


Making Peace

by VanFiction



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: BAMF Peter Parker, BAMF Tony Stark, Bisexual Peter Parker, Coding Inaccuracies, Fluff, Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt Tony Stark, Hurt/Comfort, Medical Inaccuracies, Multi, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:55:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 51,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25322731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VanFiction/pseuds/VanFiction
Summary: Peter Parker thought he had moved on from his uncle's death. But the more he continues on with his life the more realizes that maybe he hadn't. Luckily he has people around him that help him realize his inner troubles. If you ignore the hacking, late night tattoo shop talks with a veteran, and night time superhero job, he has a regular teenage life.Tony Stark has experienced a lot of betrayal in his life, but the betrayal from his former teammates had hurt the worst. Can he find it in himself to forgive them. He also has to decide if he wants to try once again to be in a relationship with the only women he has ever loved and try to be a good mentor to his protege. Because he refuse to believe he is a father figure.orIn which Peter and Tony help each other find happiness.
Relationships: Michelle Jones & Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Michelle Jones/Peter Parker, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Original Male Character(s), Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Peter Parker/Original Male Character(s)
Comments: 30
Kudos: 199





	1. Chapter 1

He was running as fast as possible while still being considered within human capacity. His brown curls bouncing on his head as he sprinted down the halls.

“Mr. Parker ,” Mr. Morita called.

“Yes?” He answers, halting immediately, his hazel eyes wide.

“Come into my office,” Mr. Morita called. The hazel eyed boy takes one last look in the direction of his first class of the day, before following the principle into his office. He sits across from Morita’s desk hesitantly.

“Late again Mr. Parker,” Morita says, “Is there something that the school should know about?”

“No, I’m really sorry Mr. Morita, I just woke up late. I ran all the way here from the subway stop but I didn’t make it in time. I’m really sorry, please don’t call my aunt. She’s sleeping because she worked a night shift last night and I don’t want to wake her. She really needs the rest. I promise it won’t happen again, I’m really, really sorry – “ the curly haired boy rambles on.

“Peter, I’m not going to call you aunt. But this really needs to stop,” The principle says.

“It won’t really, thanks,” Peter rushes to say. Standing up quickly while grabbing his backpack. Before he leaves the office he is stopped by Mr. Morita, who hands him a detention slip.

“Awe man really?” Peter says, turning wide puppy eyes to the man.

“yes really,” Morita replies. Peter not noticing the fond expression the man wore. Peter takes the slip and leaves the office, but not before being reminded not to run. By the time he enters his first class of the day, there is only 20 minutes left in the class. His teacher hands give yet another detention slip.

“I already got detention from Mr. Morita for being late Mr. Mills,” Peter explains

“Well now you’re getting one from me,” Mills says without a second thought. Frustrated, Peter makes his way towards his seat next to Ned and hear a snicker from Flash. Peter just glares at Flash as he sits.

“Dude, he does not like you,” Ned says. Peter just gives him a deadpan look, because everyone knows that Mr. Mills doesn’t like him. His reason being that, according to him, the other teachers are too lenient on the wide eyes boy and he gets way with too much. And there is also the additional argument and peter doesn’t do things how Mr. Mills like them to be. Something about showing more work and not using math that hasn’t been taught in class. But Peter likes to work smarter, not harder. Why write everything down when he can work things out without doing so. And sometimes problems can be solved faster using different methods. It is a long going argument between the two.

* * * *

“I heard you were late again today loser,” MJ says as she sits down with Peter and Ned during lunch.

“Yeah, and I got two detentions for it,” Peter says sounding annoyed, “How did you find out anyways?” MJ just shrugs, taking out her book and her lunch. Ned and Peter, being used to MJ answering their questions with a shrug or an “I just do loser”, move on with their conversation.

“You know, you have to stop patrolling so late if you can’t wake up on time,” Ned tells Peter, “what was the point of creating KAREN otherwise.”

“She did wake me up. Plus, you know May doesn’t let me stay out late patrolling on school nights,” Peter patiently explains.

“Then why were you late,” Ned asks exasperated.

“There was a dog wasn’t there?” MJ asks, hitting the mark.

“It was a cat. I was walking to the subway station when I felt her rubbing against my leg. I couldn’t just ignore her. And then she started purring and she was so cute,” Peter ranted on again, excited about his feline acquaintance.

“Didn’t KAREN remind you of the time?” Ned asked, not questioning how is curly haired friend could get so distracted by a cat. Peter was known to get sidetracked by cute animals Which reminded Ned.

“Please tell me you didn’t bring it with you!”

“That was one time!” Peter said in defense, “and KAREN has only been active for a month, she still has a lot to learn for an AI.” He says taking a bite out of his rather large lunch. Ever since his Aunt May found out about his metabolism she packs him extra food in addition to the food he gets at school. She was upset at first because he hadn’t told her and wasn’t getting enough to eat.

“How is KAREN, is she learning how you expected her too?” Ned says with a little jealousy. When he had first found out that Peter was going to create and AI he was afraid his friend wouldn’t need him anymore for his nightly escapades. He never told his friend his worries, but so far Peter has still included his guy in the chair.

“She is learning, but I don’t know if she is learning normally for an AI, I wish I had something to compare it too but it’s not like I can walk up to stark tower and ask Tony Stark,” Peter says frustrated.

“You don’t really have to ask Stark, that is next to impossible. Wouldn’t it just be easier for you to just ask Stark’s AI?” MJ says as if it were the obvious solution. Peter turned to MJ, eyes wide with excitement and hugs her. He thanks her, calls her a genius, and lets go before MJ can even process what is happening. When she recovers she just shrugs and goes back to her book, hoping no one notices her slight blush.

The school day continues as much a Peter wishes he could go home, but he still has decathlon practice afterwards. MJ already threatened that if he ditched academic decathlon today she would give his position to Flash. He knows that MJ won’t actually do it, but he rather not risk getting on her bad side. He is in his last class of the day when he realizes that he also has detention for the next two days so his vigilante night hobby might have to be cut short. And he has to deal with Aunt May giving him another lecture about being late all the time. Letting out a frustrated groan he closes his gym locker and walk out to the school gym. Peter hated gym before the bite, and he hates it even more after the bite. It is the hardest class to hide his abilities in. He started wearing a bigger shirt to hide his acquired physique. He also had to change in the showers, earning teasing remarks from his classmates, especially from Flash. Then he had to pay extra close attention to his behavior and actions so that they resemble how he was in the gym pre-bite. Although no longer hates working out, just the opposite, it is a lot more tiring to hide it.

His “peter tingle” as Aunt May liked to call it, went off letting him now he was about to be shoved, probably by Flash. He casually steps to the side and pretends to tie his show watching Flash fall from having nothing to in front of him to shove. Some people notice and snicker. Flash catches him looking.

“What are you looking at Penis?” Flash says harshly as he gets up, glaring at Peter as if it is his fault he fell. Well it kind of was, but Flash was the one who decided to shove him. Peter just walks away towards MJ and Ned. The only thing good things about gym was the he shared it with both of his best friends.

“Way to go captain obvious,” MJ said, her voice leaking sarcasm, “You shoe laces weren’t even untied.”

“Yeah well not everyone is as observant as you MJ,” Peter defended, “And he does it often enough that I can practically guess when he’s going to do it without my senses.” Coach Wilson blows his whistle to signal the beginning of class. Today was the day that they had the statewide pacer test. All the students let out a groan.

As they were doing the test, everyone was huffing and starting to sweat. Well except for Peter.

“Parker! If you’re not sweating you’re not trying enough!” Coach Wilson hollered out.

“This isn’t enough to make me sweat” he replied under his breath.

“What was that!” Coach asked

“I said I don’t sweat a lot Coach”

By the time the class was over and everyone went to their respective locker rooms, Peter was ready to go home and mess around with his coding. He was glad that he had gym at the end of the day because it meant he had enough time to shower after class. With his heightened senses, he hates the feeling of drying sweat on his skin. Even if he isn’t the one sweating, showering helps him remove the sweat smell from his nose and the phantom sweat feeling from his skin. May had especially liked this new development. Not because he sometimes had a hard time with his senses, including sense overload. But because of his heightened senses, his room tended to be a lot cleaner than before.

As the hazel eyed boy is packing up his backpack and his dirty gym clothes that need to be washed, everyone else is about to walk out or have already left. Most have chosen to shower at home.

“Why are you always changing in the stalls or in the shower Penis, embarrassed of something?” insinuates Flash.

“Maybe I’m just shy,” Peter replied distracted, focusing on getting to the acadec practice before MJ gets mad at him for being late. Flash, not being of fan of being ignored, opened his mouth to say something more. Before he could continue his harassment Ned stepped in.

“Dude MJ is literally waiting for you in the gym because she thinks you’re going to flake on practice again,” Ned says as he walks in, “She sent me in to get you, and says if we don’t walk out in the next 30 seconds she is going to come in herself. Dude, I had to stop her from coming in here and told her I would come and check on you.” Peter quickly finishes shoving in his things into his bag and practically runs towards the gym knowing that being on the other side of a mad MJ is not fun.

MJ became captain of the academic decathlon team when Liz moved after the homecoming fiasco. She remembered feeling bad for her former captain when Peter left her right after they had arrived to the dance, but knowing the Parker probably had a good reason for it. When she later found out that the idiot had gone and took down an alien weapon dealer that so happened to be Liz’s dad while saving Stark’s stuff she had been mad. He could have gotten seriously hurt, he was seriously hurt if he didn’t have his healing factor. After she had finished going on a rant on him, he explained how things went. Apparently, he had hacked the FBI and let them know about the dealings and what the next one was supposed to be. They tried to apprehend them but a Ferry was lasered in half due to one of the weapons going off. The only reason it didn’t turn into a tragedy was because Iron Man got there and welded the Ferry back together. Afterwards he laid low because he didn’t want a trail leading back to him. But when he appeared at Liz’s house before the homecoming, he found out that Liz’s dad was the flying criminal he called the Vulture. MJ had rolled her eyes when she found the name Peter had given him. After being threatened by the man Peter, he couldn’t help but do something as the FBI weren’t able to apprehend them. He left his phone in the car, stole a car from Flash, wrecked said car chasing the criminal tracking the GPS from his phone with the help of a newborn KAREN, got buried under a building (though Peter kept that part a secret), and then saved a plane from being hijacked. After crashing the plane into Coney Island, Spider-man left a note asking _are you missing something?_ and signed it _From your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man_

It took 2 weeks for him to be completely healed, and during those two weeks May was doting on him like a mother hen. If May hadn’t, MJ would have resulting in ruining her reputation. Though she suspected her two best friends saw past her so called reputation, but didn’t say anything. Leeds had also been really worried and showed it through only letting Peter build Legos and watch Star Wars as after school activities during those two weeks. Knowing peter for most of her life, MJ knew that he needed someone to treat him normally. So she tried to act indifferently, and if it suited her aloof image then she wasn’t going to complain.

Ned and Peter had known each other the longest, meeting in kindergarten. It hadn’t been long since his parents’ death, and so he tended to be very quiet during that time. The only kid who put any effort into the becoming friends with the practically mute kid was Leeds, and so their friendship grew. May and Ben had been ecstatic that someone had gotten Peter out of his shell and tried to have as many play dates with the Leeds family as possible. MJ started going to the same school as the two boys during the second grade when she was 7 years old. She had always been, well MJ, and so not very many kids were enthusiastic about getting to know her. Peter, the forever cinnamon roll, insisted that she shouldn’t sit by herself. She had given him her signature shrug and went back to drawing, basically ignoring him. He and Leeds still sat with her every lunch and recess as they talked their nerd talk and she drew. Sometimes they would also draw, even if she still didn’t talk to them. Three months into the school year, the teachers were trying to get May to agree to have Peter skip a few grades again. When she asked Peter about why he didn’t he explained that his Uncle Ben and Aunt May had talked to him about it, and told him that they would rather not do it and have him stay with friends his age. But that if Peter really wanted to, then they would agree.

“So why didn’t you?” MJ asked, slightly annoyed by Peter’s rant that still didn’t answer her question.

Peter had just replied, “I like eating lunch with you and Ned.”

After that day, MJ started talking to both of them more and the rest is history. Now if you ask MJ when she started liking Parker as more than a friend, she will deny that she does. Maybe she denies it because she doesn’t want to believe that she is a part of the cliché of best friends liking each other. Maybe she doesn’t want to admit it because then she would be pining over a guy who doesn’t feel the same. However, after liking him for the past year, the only thing left is for MJ to admit it. In the back of her mind she knows she likes him. Knows that it had started in their last year on middle school. Liked how he always stood up for people, and wished he stood up for himself as well. Liked how kind he was. Liked how he always listened to Leeds when he rambled on about something he was excited about, which was almost always. Liked how he listened to her talk about social justice and feminism, and actually took it all in. Usually other people their age would say that she was too intense or say that those things weren’t needed in the present day. But not Peter, he would listen and he would ask questions, and always tried to change his speech to be more inclusive when she called him out. MJ really liked him. she just hasn’t ever admitted it to herself. So she keeps denying it


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony's first interaction with Peter via Friday.

As the trio walked into decathlon practice, everyone else had already set up for practice. They first practiced as a team with MJ quizzing them, and she usually switches off with whoever is answering correctly the most, so that she can get practice as well. Usually it’s Peter when he does show up to practice, for the other half of the practices it is one of the other team members. After a while they break out into groups and the best friend trio end up practicing together. At first they practiced devotedly, but eventually there would get sidetracked with conversation. Ned had asked Peter if he wanted to finish building the Lego death star they never got around to doing. Peter agreed enthusiastically, nodding his head, curls bouncing, eyes bright, and smile wide.

MJ realizes she has been staring at him, staring at both of them (she tries to convince herself), and goes back to the flashcards in her hands.

“Let’s keep practicing nerds,” She says, trying to get them back on track. But it’s like getting puppies to sit still.

“Sorry MJ,” Peter replies directing his smile towards her. Yup, like puppies. They keep practicing and MJ tries to not get lost in thought as Leeds and Peter keep getting distracted and start yet another conversation. Which is why she normally tries to separate them when they split into pairs to practice. MJ starts to look through the flashcards on her own, but realizes that nothing is sticking, her mind filled with thoughts on a certain spider-boy instead.

 _Ugh, what a cliché_ she thought to herself.

MJ got out of her head and observed the rest of the team instead and realize that everyone else was too distracted by the beginning of the weekend. She looks at the time and decides that ending the Friday practice early would be a good idea.

“Why end practice early?” Ned asked her.

“You two losers were talking about your Legos, and everyone else was also too distracted,” She explained with her signature shrug.

“Do you want to join us on Saturday? We’re also watching a movie, you can pick if you want,” Peter asked her, “You know, since you don’t like Legos, even though I know you secretly do.”

“If that’s what you want to think,” MJ says rolling her eyes at his antics, “But yeah I’ll go.” With that Peter said he had to hurry home and quickly left. Probably to mess around with KAREN.

* * * *

When Peter finally arrives home Aunt May has already left for her night shift at the hospital. He quickly rushes to his room in order to try to get in contact with a rumored AI. His own AI, Karen, is active on his phone, May’s phone, his laptop, and very rudimentarily set up in his suit. He brings up his deceiving looking laptop. On the outside it looks like a very old PC laptop that the Parkers have had for years. It’s very thick and clunky compared to newer models, and someone who didn’t know better would think that it ran slower glacier. Those who knew Peter knew better. He had done some extensive upgrades and practically created the operating system that it ran on. Uncle Ben had gotten a relatively newer, but used, model for his work. It was the laptop Peter started using for school, which was pretty much became his when his Uncle Ben had died. Karen wasn’t installed in that one because he couldn’t risk anyone at school knowing about her. He grabbed the old laptop and connected his headphones, he was greeted as soon has he opened the computer.

“Hello Peter, how was school?” the AI greeted him as he opened the laptop and plugged his earphones in.

“Hey Karen! It was good I guess,” He replied to her as he started working on trying to get onto the SI server. He made sure to cover his tracks as he always did, but it didn’t hurt that he had an extra pair of eyes to look out for anything he missed. Well not eyes, brain? Software? Whatever. After asking Karen to make sure he covered his tracks, he got started. He figured that hacking into an employee’s profile, an employee that had access to the AI, would be the safest way to get the Stark AI’s attention without getting the attention of the Avengers. If they were still a thing. Once he was in their system he sent out a message hoping that it would be enough.

 **Hi, I am not trying to hack into SI. I just want to speak to the Stark AI if you exist. I mean if possible.**

Peter waited for a response for a few minutes when he heard an unfamiliar voice with a slight Irish accent that sounded like it belonged to a female.

“Who am I speaking to,” the voice said.

* * * *

Tony Stark was a very busy man. He was juggling the amendment of the Sokovia Accords, testifying in Thaddeus Ross’s trial, while also being the head of R&D department for Stark Industries, while also recovering from his injuries. He has some help from his wonderful AI, Friday, who manages a lot of the SI and Avengers (new avengers? It was a work in progress) security. So imagine his surprise when his AI tell him that SI might have been hacked.

“What was that again? You’re going to have to repeat it baby girl,” the man requests.

“There might be a minimum security breach in SI servers boss,” FRIDAY repeats a bit louder and slower, “you might need to get your ears checked boss. You are getting older.” Said boss looks affronted as if he wasn’t the one who did her coding and therefore didn’t know about her sass.

“Watch the attitude young lady. I am not old, not yet anyways,” the man says, “and what do you mean by might. How do you not know?”

“There is no trace. As soon as something is done, it gets covered up instantly. As if it was always there to begin with. The only reason I know it hasn’t been is because I am watching it happen.” Stark looks up from the work he was doing in his lab in surprise. He hasn’t heard of anyone being able to do that when hacking. Especially not when they’re hacking him.

“What are they after?”

“They don’t appear to be after anything. They have accessed an employee’s profile and are using it as their own. They seem to be trying to talk to me.” Friday pulls up the message directed towards her. The message looks to have come from Ivan Belikova’s employee login. He was one of the R&D head researchers. One of the few employees who had slight access to Friday. She had pulled up the coding next to the message and the recordings of the changes as they happened. Tony could see that changes to the coding as she had described. More astonishing is that the viewer of the recording couldn’t tell how it was being done either. He had only seen something similar months ago. It looked too similar for it to be a coincidence, but different enough that he wasn’t certain.

“They want to talk to you, not anyone else?” Tony says, at this point more intrigued than anything else. He had a suspicion of who it was, but wanted to make sure. “Connect to their window of access they have and ask them who they are, see if they at least give us a gender identity. Record the conversation.” Tony listens to the conversation, which turns out to make him even more intrigued.

“Umm I rather not say, or else there wouldn’t really be a point of me covering my tracks,” The voice responds. A voice that he recognizes but can’t quite place. The voice of a young male.

“Can I know your name though?” the voice asks.

“I am Friday, Tony Stark’s AI,” Friday responds, “What is the reason you have contacted me.”

“Oh um nice to meet you Ms. Friday,” the male says. Tony snorts at his response, the male is definitely on the young side.

“I was wondering if you would be willing to let me see you’re code?” the male asks. As the conversation continues, Tony starts cross referencing the audio from hacker to audio online to see if there are any matches.

“I am sorry, but the only person who has access to my code is Boss,” FRIDAY replies fondly, “Why do you want to see my code?” Tony makes a face to that, wondering why she was being nice to the young man. She was usually pretty aloof to people she didn’t know.

“Oh okay, that’s ok. I wanted to have something to reference to. Karen in new and I’m not sure if she is learning how AI’s normally should or if I’m missing something. I don’t want her to struggle because I overlooked something in her code” The young man rants nervously, “She’s my AI. Would you like to meet her.” Tony again finds himself being shocked. The only two people who have AIs are himself and the princess of Wakanda. Though no one outside of Wakanda knows about theirs. The only reason Tony knows is because he hacked into their system to confirm the Rogers and co. were there. And even Griot wasn’t as advanced as Friday was, and was nowhere near JARVIS.

“Agree to meet her Fri,” Tony says, working furiously to find a match to the voice.

“Yes,” Friday replies to the male voice, also sounding quite intrigued. She has never met another AI.

“You can have access Karen,” the voice says quietly. The more Tony hears the voice, the more he sounds like a young boy. Probably in his teens.

“Hello, I am Karen,” The foreign AI greets them. Her voice has an American accent and sounds very affectionate and kind.

“It is nice to meet you Karen, I’m Friday. Have you been having trouble learning? Would you like me to take a look at your code?”

“I don’t think I’m comfortable with you seeing her code Ms. Friday. Sorry” the young male says.

“I agree, we have barely met and don’t know that you don’t have ill intentions,” Karen explains politely, “ But I don’t think that I have a hard time learning. It is only human expressions and emotions that I take longer to understand. But I feel as if that is normal.”

“It is,” Friday agrees, “I am relatively new as well. You will learn as you experience more things and come across more information. If there is a problem with your code you will find it as you develop”

“Thanks Ms. Friday. I think that settles my worry a bit. It was nice to meet you, I think we’ll go now. Bye,” the young man says. Karen expresses her gratitude as well and says goodbye and just like that they’re gone without a trace.

“Well that was new,” Tony says.

“Indeed,” Friday readily agrees, “there is a match to the audio. It seems to belong to a spider-man.” Which confirms Tony’s suspicion. A couple of months ago he was asked to consult with the FBI about a breach. The hacker had left information and evidence to an arms dealer that dealt with alien tech. Tony had confirmed that the data had been authentic but said that there wasn’t any signs that there had been a hack and therefore couldn’t trace it. The FBI followed the lead, but Iron Man had to intervene due to a split ferry boat. There was no news for a couple months until the same arms dealer had been caught by Spider-man. The only confirmation of the Spider’s interference was a crashed plane holding some Tony’s confidential toys and note that Tony had found a bit amusing. At first Tony had thought that the Spiderling had help in hacking the FBI, or knew someone on the inside. Now he knew better.

“Fri track down where the Spider lives,” Tony says.

“All video surveillance where Spiderman is seen seems to be skewed boss,” she says, “One day the video records are untouched and the next there are some missing, The locations of which video recording locations are skewed also appears to be random. There doesn’t seem to be a pattern to how, when, or where they are being interfered with.”

“looks like our Arachnid friend is good,” Tony says liking a friendly challenge, “based on social media where is he seen the most.”

“It seems to be Queens boss,” Friday quickly says

“Alright, well lets hack into phone calls and their recordings around Queens and try to match the audio with the one we received today as well as the YouTube videos of Spiderman,” Tony says quick on his feet.

“It might take some time boss.”

“That’s okay baby girl,” Tony says, “create a new folder for our friend and store it in my private server.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a minimal knowledge on coding and no knowledge on how to hack. Made most what is in the chapter up based on what little on coding I do know, and it's most likely completely wrong. Also, heads up, tags will change as the story develops. Constructive criticism is welcome and comments are appreciated.


	3. Chapter 3

Ned had been best friends with Peter Parker for over half his life. He has vague memories of meeting him in kindergarten and how quiet Peter was. He remembers asking his mom why Peter was always sad, why his new friend wasn’t as happy about being friends as he was. His mother had explained to him that Peter was sad because his parents had gone away and couldn’t come back. That it would take time for Peter not to be sad anymore. It was the first time that his parents had had to explain what death was to Ned. He remembers being sad about learning what it was and even more sad the Peter learned about it in such a horrible way. He remembers that he would try to make his friend laugh when he could and soon his friend came out of his shell of grief and became the person he knows today. He is still pretty quiet and shy on the outside. But as soon as someone gets to know Peter, they’ll find someone who rambles on about anything and everything he is interested in, and Peter was interested in almost everything. Ned remembers when his parents had told him that Peter might move up in grade level and that he would be seeing him less often. They were in Kindergarten and they wanted to move Peter up to first or second grade. Ned had asked his mom if he could move up too, so that he could still spend time with his friend. They had explained to him that the school had suggest it and it wasn’t a choice anyone else could make. He wasn’t jealous then, he was more upset that he might lose his only friend. When his parents told him that Peter’s Aunt May and Uncle Ben had decided to keep Peter in Kindergarten he remembers being ecstatic and hugging Peter when he saw him at school the next day. Apparently they thought moving him away from his friend when he was just starting to move on from his parents’ death wouldn’t be a good idea. The teachers and principle kept suggesting he gets put in higher grades. They suggested it almost every year, saying that Peter would bet bored and that it would be detrimental to his passion for learning. But the Parkers would always decline the offer.

The jealousy had started when they were starting their first year in middle school. It was just 2 weeks into 6thgrade when he heard that the teachers thought that Peter should just go straight to high school. It was the biggest fight that he had with Peter up to that point. They were heading to Peter’s apartment to work on homework together when Peter brought it up.

“The school wants be to skip middle school and go to high school,” He explained hesitantly.

“I guess since it’s a new school they don’t know that your Aunt and Uncle will just say no,” Ned says without much thought, but after some silence he adds, “they’re saying no again right?”

“They said they would think about it more. Apparently the principle said that they’re afraid that I’ll get bored and cause trouble or something like that,” Peter continued to explain, “They asked me if I ever get bored at school. When I told them that I do they said that it might be an option.”

“Wait you’re bored of us?” Ned had told him with a hurt and betrayed expression.

“That’s not what I said, I said that I’m bored at school, not that I am bored of you or MJ,” Peter said

“It’s the same thing!” Ned had yelled at his best friend. By then they had both stopped walking and were standing in the middle of the sidewalk. Thankfully no one had turned to look at them. Only in New York.

“No it’s not Ned,” Peter said annoyed at the fact that his friend was twisting his words, “One of the only reasons I stay is because of you and MJ.”

“I’m so sorry that you make such a sacrifice in order to keep us company,” Ned said.

“Why are you being like this. It’s not like I asked them to let me skip Ned. It’s not my fault,” Peter said desperate to make his friend understand.

“Of course it isn’t, how could perfect parker do anything wrong,” Ned mocked.

“Dude! Why are you sounding like Flash?” Peter said now mad at his best friend. Ned remembers that the comparison to their bully had hurt, but at the time it only made him angrier. He had turned around and walked back towards the school, glad that they hadn’t walked to far.

“Where are you going?” His best friend said, “we’re supposed to work on homework together. Ned! I’ll tell them I don’t want to go to high school yet”

“Whatever, I’m going home, you don’t need my help with the homework anyways,” Ned says as he walks off.

Later that night when he was working on said homework his mother walk in to his room. She was a small women and filled with so much love for her family. Ned had always been an insecure child and when he found a friend in kindergarten her worry about lessened. Until Peter came into the young Leeds boy, when she asked about school he would always say he wished he had a friend. The Leeds family quickly grew close to the Parkers. When Mrs. Leeds first met Peter she could understand why her son got along with him so well. Seeing them interact made her smile as they were two pees in a pod. It was unusual for them to skip out on spending time together, and it usually signaled that something was wrong.

“Do you want to talk about it?” She said.

“Talk about what,” Ned said sulking

“Your fight with Peter, the one you’re sulking about” She said calling him out, “May called to ask if we knew what had happened since Peter won’t tell her or Ben.”

“The school wants him to skip to high school, said May and Ben are actually thinking about it this time around. Apparently he’s bored of us,” Ned said to his mother. She sighs and goes to sit down next to him.

“Did he say that he was bored of you? That doesn’t sound like Peter,” his mother asks patiently, not one to take sides. Especially without knowing the whole story.

“He said sometimes gets bored at school, which is the same thing,” He defends.

“No Ned it’s not. You know even if he moves schools that doesn’t mean you two won’t be best friends,” She tells him reassuringly, knowing her son’s reoccurring fear that comes up whenever the topic comes reemerges..

“I know that, I just wish that I could go with him,” Ned says irritated. Then everything made sense to her, and she sighs once more knowing that this conversation would be a harder for him to understand.

“You know you’re a smart kid Ned,” she starts, “And your dad and I are always so proud of you.”

“Yeah but I’m not smart enough to skip a grade, not like Peter,” Ned said begrudgingly.

“Honey, you should never compare yourself to others. If you do, then you’re always going to find something you don’t like about yourself, or be self-conscious about and think you’re lacking.” She says hoping he’ll understand, “Peter’s brain is one in a billion and works differently than a brain usually does. But that doesn’t mean you aren’t smart. If you keep comparing yourself to Peter, it will only lead you to resenting him for something he can’t control and resenting a piece of yourself. ” It did help him feel better, but his mind still latched onto the one in a billion part of what she had said. He thanks her, saying that he feels better.

“There is nothing that needs change about you Ned. You’re a great kid, polite, kind, and super smart,” She says hugging him and kissing him on the head, “Love you.”

“Love you too,” he replies as she closes his door. But the next day he didn’t talk to his curly haired friend, nor did he sit with him during lunch. It wasn’t until the next day where MJ interfered. She glared at him, which he found a little scary. Knowing how blunt she is and how she doesn’t sugarcoat anything made him nervous about the conversation he knew they were going to have.

“I though you would resolve it yourselves but apparently that isn’t going to happen. You know I don’t want him moving schools either Ned,” She says, “but if that is what’s best for him then you

“Why does everyone think that is why I’m mad,” Ned says

“Because then the other reason would be jealously and that’s a dumb reason to be mad at someone,” She says harshly. Ned rolls his eyes at that and mentions he already had a similar talk with his mom, though she was nicer about it.

“Then why are you still avoiding him. You can’t be mad at something he can’t control. Plus have you ever thought how hard it might be for him.” She goes on. He looks at her as if she was

“Hard? He never has to study hard for anything,” He says to her.

“Ned that’s not true. We see him study all the time, it just not the same as what we study. You’re my friend just as much as he is but you’re being really dumb right now,” she goes off on him, “Learning might be easy for him but that doesn’t mean school is. A lot of the teachers don’t like him because they think it isn’t their job to babysit and entertain a bored kid. He gets picked on for being a show off or being a ‘weird’ (she rolls her eyes as she says that one) and even if he gets moved up then teachers would still think they’re babysitting a younger kid than what they’re use to and he would still be an outcast for being younger and smarter.”

“I guess I never thought of that,” the Filipino boy admits.

“That’s what I thought,” MJ says glad that she got through to her friend, “Now let’s go meet up with him before he decides to move because he thinks you’re not his friend anymore.”

“He would never leave you behind even if we weren’t talking, plus we’re still friends,” He says.

“Yeah, but you know Peter is,” She says. Ned nods in agreement and walks alongside her. It was the end of the day so they went straight to meet Peter at his locker. Ned apologizes for twisting Peter’s words, for yelling at him, and for being rude. Not finding it in himself to admit that he was jealous of his friend. Peter apologizes for comparing his to Flash, to which MJ raises her eyebrows at. Peter then ensures that he won’t be moving ahead in school; Ben and May let him decide. Apparently he didn’t want to be the only 11 year old with a bunch of teenagers and said he would fit in less than he does in middle school. Peter told MJ and Ned that he had two best friends that he didn’t want to be separated from.

“Ned we’re here,” His mom says pulling him out of his thoughts. He thanks his mom and heads towards Peter’s apartment. They had agreed to meet up mid-day on Saturday so that Peter could sleep in since he usually goes out on a patrol for longer on Fridays. It also allows May to get some sleep after having a night shift. He had a text to come in without knocking because May hadn’t woken up yet. He enters the small two bedroom apartment that felt like his second home. The living room has two mismatched armchairs facing each other with a coffee table in between and a loveseat adjacent to it and across from a TV stand and their TV. Next to the TV there is a small bookshelf with books and pictures of the Parker family. Their small kitchen is next to the living room with light bluish cabinets and stainless steel appliances that came with the apartment. There is a red kettle on the stove because May like tea, but Peter hates. There is a small table in the corner with four chairs where the two boys have spends countless nights doing homework and projects. He knows this place as well as his own house.

Ned makes his way to Peter’s bedroom and opens the door. The usual corner desk with more taken apart old tech than school books. A clean and made up twin sized bed. An open closet that is neatly organized. In Ned’s mind, this was the biggest change in Peter after the bite. At first he found it really weird and unlike Peter as before he would have his room messy like most teenage boys, but when Peter explained he understood. If he had enhanced senses he wouldn’t like dust or dirt around either.

“Dude! Ned I love you, I do. But we’re not that close,” Peter says, “what if I had been naked.” Oh yeah and there was Peter in just his boxers with tattoos running up his left arm and into a part of his chest and shoulder.

“It would have only brought us close,” the black haired boy says teasingly, “dude, I thought you had more? They disappear already?” Another development were the tattoos. There is a rumor going around that the reason Peter always wears long sleeved shirts is because he has tattoos. Which is true, but no one at school needed to know that. Ned hadn’t found out until a similar situation of not knocking on the door.

_Flashback start_

Peter had been changing into PJs for their sleepover and was shirtless when Ned had walked in. MJ found out because Ned was freaking out about the tattoos and had walked into the room as well. She had raised an eyebrow and had walked out. Ned could have sworn she was blushing. Then May walked in to see what the commotion was and she had never seen her more mad.

“I was lenient about the Spiderman thing since you were honest about it, even though I didn’t like it. I’m not strict about much Peter much this? This! Why? You’re too young to be getting something on your body that last forever!” She had gone on, “not to mention that it is illegal for minors to get tattoos in New York even with parental permission!”

“May! It’s not permanent, promise! They’ll be gone in about a month or so,” Peter had tried to explain, but it only made May more heated.

“How do you know that! Who would even tattoo a 15 year old.”

“Don’t be mad. A couple months ago I saved this guy from being mugged and he’s a veteran but also a tattoo artist. He offered and I was curious to see if it was permanent,”

“What if it had been?”

“Well I was pretty certain that it wouldn’t. I just wanted to know for sure. One day I was bored and was thinking about it and it was an itch I had to scratch. Plus the veteran tattoo artist guy, his name is Santiago by the way but he says he goes by Santi, was really nice. He helps me learn Spanish” May had stared at him as if he had grown three heads after she heard his explanation.

“It’s always when you’re bored that you go and do something. You’re bored on your fieldtrip, walk off and get bitten by a spider. Got bored at home alone, decides to get a tattoo. How did this guy know you're Spiderman and how do you know he won’t say anything!”

“Um, well when I saved him from the mugger I might have gotten a cut on my cheek from a knife. He told me to follow him to his shop since he has some medical training due to his in the military. It was when I first started and I didn’t know much about my healing. He promised he wouldn’t tell anyone because he owed me for saving his life, though I’m pretty sure he could have handled it himself since he was a marine.”

“Dude, you’re way too trusting,” Ned has said after being silent for a while. Both Parkers turned to stare at him

“Parker discussion, right,” He said embarrassed.

“Ned’s right, that is to trusting Peter,” May said in disbelief.

“Yeah I know, but I figured he didn’t have any proof and he only ever does work on me afterhours when no one else is there. He owns the shop. And he helped me with you know, Ben. He told me about the friends he lost on his tours. He just helped a lot,” Peter said looking at his feet, refusing to meet May’s eyes. May visibly softened at that, but she still hadn’t let it go. Peter had let the tattoos disappear for about two months before he finally convinced May to let him get more. Peter refused to tell his friends how he had convince her, but said that physically seeing them heal had helped.

_Flashback End_

“yeah, I got one on my ribs for the first time, but I guess that it heals faster on my ribs that in other places. My guess is that it’s because it’s really close to bones but I haven’t done enough research on it to make a good hypothesis,” His friend explained as he got dressed. When he was at home he still mostly wore long sleeves. He was still pretty timid about them, and it helped if May didn’t see them as often.

“Is that one of MJ’s?” Ned asks him. Ever since MJ found out, Peter started telling her what doodles or pieces he liked and asks her if he can have them done. Most of the time MJ says yes, but sometimes she says no. She even starting creating pieces purposefully for Peter. One time Ned had jokingly drawn the three of them swinging under a tree. The drawing was awful but Peter had still gotten it, which warmed Ned the few times he had seen it.

“Yeah, she said she drew it to see if I would get it because it could be considered girly,” Peter said grinning, “but I really liked it so I got it done. I told her that things were considered girly because of societal gender roles and she looked proud.” The tattoo was that of a panda, but the only ink that was tatted was where the panda had black fur, where the panda usually has white fur was left as negative space. Once Peter finished changing, they head to the living room where MJ is already sitting in one of the armchairs. Peter walked over and pulled up his sleeve to show her the panda tattoo since she hadn’t seen it yet. MJ let out a small laugh as she saw the tattoo and admired it with a smile. Eventually the three of them were sitting around the coffee table building the death star. At first MJ had sat in one of the armchairs with a blanket from Peter’s room, reading a book. She quickly abandoned her book when Ned and Peter starting bickering about a Lego piece and if it went a certain place or another. May came out of her room, and after offering them a late lunch, and joined them in the Lego building process. They were joking around and laughing freely. Ned looked at his best friend enjoying himself heartily. Taking a Lego piece out of MJ’s hand and sticking his tongue out at her, which resulted in MJ casually punching him. in the rib.

“Ned! MJ hit me!” Peter complained playfully

“Well maybe you shouldn’t steel Legos from people,” Ned said smirking.

“May! MJ hit me!” Peter tried again pouting.

“Yeah, not touching that one,” May laughed.

“Wow, to your own nephew,” Peter said more seriously with a glint in his eyes. As he got up to enhance his dramatics he accidentally stepped on a Lego piece and shouted, quickly sitting down to rub the bottom of his foot. After the bite, it was rare to see Peter being as klutzy as he used to be, so it came to surprise the few times it happened. They all chuckled at his expense, but did ask if he was alright. Ned really loved moments like these, and loved his best friends. He can’t believe that he thought he had almost lost one of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not posting this week, I had finals. I think I'm going to start posting every Saturday.


	4. Chapter 4

“Boss, I have found Spider-man,” Friday said with her Irish lilt.

“Give it to me baby girl,” Tony replied to her looking up from the gauntlet he was working on.

“Spider-man resides in Queens as suspected,” She explains pulling up the address, “The phone call them came from this apartment matched the audio. Only two people reside here, May Parker and Peter Parker."

“Give me everything you can find on Peter,” Tony said with a hint of excitement. There had never been anyone that could hack is security system, especially with Friday’s omnipresence in the tower. After the chaotic event of his plane being hijacked and his tech stolen, he had decided not to completely move to the compound. That didn’t mean he didn’t have his lab in his wing at the compound, he just spent most of the time in the tower. Thought after the “civil war” as the media liked to call it, he spent most of the time in the tower. It took it a little over a month to heal from his injuries, but still hadn’t healed from the betrayal from the people he thought of as family. He blamed the whole winged villain trying to steal his stuff on the fact that the Accord amendments being his sole focus at the time. It had taken months of constant meeting with the UN and other enhanced to get the Accords to what they are today. He had met everyone from the X-men to the vigilante group called the Defenders to politician in order to really polish the accords the point where everyone was agreeable with it. He even changed the things that Rogers and co. had issues with. Five months after the “civil war”, the Accords were done with the first wave of changes. After that amendments were still being introduced to keep improving the accords, but due the first wave of changes, there was now a procedure to add on amendments in a much more transparent and efficient way.

After his curiosity won over his want of finishing his new and improved gauntlet watch, he grabbed his StarkPad and sat down to get to know the famous spider hero. Peter Benjamin Parker was 15 years old in his freshman year of highschool.

 _What is he still doing in high school_ the genius thought to himself.

He was at the top of his class, no surprise there, but recently quit robotics club and band, only staying in academic decathlon as an extracurricular. Teachers noted in his file that they were concerned over his sudden departure from the clubs after his uncle’s death. There are several science fair and academic awards in his student file as well. Tony was particularly interested in the continual refusal to bump him up grades throughout his academic years. Though Tony had a feeling that he knew why his guardians had kept refusing. The Parker boy’s social media presence was scarce. Posting a few pictures of his guardians and his friends on his Instagram. His twitter account was where he rambled about science and followed many different scientists, including Tony Stark.

“Well will you look at that, the boy has taste,” Tony mumbled to himself as he looked through Peter’s short twitter history. From what he has read in the short tweets, the boy is definitely smart. That was saying something if Tony thought so.

“You know, talking to yourself is a sign of insanity,” Rhodey teased the short man.

“No, that’s only if a voice answers back,” Tony said smirking, “Wade said so.” Rhodey rolls his eyes at his best friend's reply, knowing that Wade had been a pain in the ass to talk to when it came to the Accords. Rhodes walked over and sits next to his best friend, a light hum coming from his braces that can barely be heard.

“Rhodey Bear remind me to upgrade those later,” Tony said pointing at the braces with a hint of guilt in his voice. There had been quite a few long conversations about what Rhodey believes is misplaces guilt. Tony still didn't quite agree, but tries to be better about it, knowing that there is some truth behind what Rhodey had to say. Rhodey had been enraged when he had learned about Siberia, especially after seeing his friend in medical at the compound. The only reason why the Colonel knew the details about what had occurred was because he was Tony’s medical proxy. After his separation from Pepper, Rhodey was the only medical proxy left on Tony’s file. He had been in physical therapy when he was told they needed him in medical. When he arrived, Tony was lying in a medical bed in an medically induce coma. Tony had broken ribs, a concussion with swelling in the brain, and a dislocated shoulder. But the worst was his cracked sternum. Artificial sternum against a vibranium shield thrown down by a super soldier was not a good idea. Helen Cho had stated that the cracked sternum wasn’t as serious as it could have potentially been, and that surgery on somebody with a heart problems wasn’t worth the risk. She said that he could continue with a cracked sternum, since it wasn’t damaged enough to pose a danger, but that Tony would have to be extra cautious to try and prevent further trauma to the area. Helen had especially emphasized the fact that if the Iron Man suit hadn’t been as strong as it was or if the artificial sternum had been a traditional replacement instead of Tony’s creation, than the trauma from the shield would have caused worse damage on the sternum. It would have pushed the sternum into the heart while it cracked and could have caused cardiorespiratory damage on an already weakened heart. Tony wouldn’t have been as lucky as he had been. If Tony ever wanted to get in an Iron Man suit again he needed to come up with a solution so that his sternum isn't in risk of getting worse.

Rhodey had been besides himself after hearing that, needing to know what exactly had caused such trauma, since at the time he didn’t know anything. After a two weeks of Tony being in a coma and another two of further recovery, Tony had finally been cleared to resume regular civilian activities. Rhodes had tried to talk to him then but then Tony locked himself up in the lab in blackout mode for four days before he was able to. When Tony had finally resurfaced he had come out with brace prosthetics for his legs and Rhodey couldn’t bring himself to be mad at his best friend. Though it did trigger the first conversation on misplaced guilt.

_Flashback start_

“Tony,” Rhodes said apprehensively.

“Don’t,” Tony interrupted.

“Don’t what?” Rhodes replied back quickly, knowing where his friend’s head was at.

“Don’t try to make me feel better about something that was my fault,” Tony said in a quiet but agitated voice, “Don’t make me feel better when you’re the one in a wheelchair because of me.”

“That’s bullshit,” Rhodes said bewildered, “you just came out of a month of recovery, you were put in a coma Tony! I don’t think being holed up in your lab was what Helen meant my regular civilian activities.” But Tony remained silent.

“This!,” Rhodes pointed at his legs and his wheelchair, “Was not your fault! I chose to back the Accords, I chose to go with you to apprehend the others, and I chose to be War Machine. It wasn’t your fault. So could you please start looking at me again.” Tony had looked up and there were tears in his eyes. Rhodes hadn’t seen Tony anywhere near crying since his Parents’ death. Seeing Tony like that confirmed how guilty, sorry, worried, and mournful Tony felt.

“Seeing you free fall in a heavy suit, knowing that I wouldn’t be able to reach you in time, thinking that you would be gone hurt,” Tony said seriously in a rare moment of sincere and pure honesty. No teasing, no quick remarks, no hiding behind humor or a mask. Rhodes hugged his friend tightly knowing that Tony secretly liked physical comfort.

“I’m okay, Tony. I’m alive and with your braces I’ll be able to walk again. It’s not your fault,” He said reassuringly, “Do you want to help me put them on.” That got Tony’s attention as he quickly got up to help Rhodey onto the couch so that he could put them on for him. Going on about needing to know if they fit right, if they pinched anywhere, if Rhodey got tired to quickly, and what not. Once the braces were on and Tony was helping him take some steps with them, Rhodey decided to use the distraction to bring up the question that hadn’t left his mind.

“Tones?,” Rhodey started asking hesitantly. After Tony hummed in acknowledgement while remaining focused on the braces, he continued. “What happened in Siberia.” Tony froze, visibly tense.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” he replied not elaborating on anything else, going back to the braces, “Are you sure that they fit correctly. I’m afraid that you will get sore while using them.”

“Tony please? I’m told I need to get to medical, I get there and you in a medically induced coma with trauma to your sternum among other injuries. Tony, you had brain swelling! Helen telling me you were lucky to be alive also hurt!,” Rhodey exclaimed, his voice unstable from emotion.

“The swelling was minor and you can’t even tell it even happened after it healed,” Tony said trying to placate his friend. They both remained silent until Tony caved.

“I can’t talk about it,” He explained, but before Rhodes could interrupt him he continued, “But I’ll show you. Just don’t watch it while I’m around okay?” After Rhodey gave him his word, he asked Friday to send him the recording from his suit. They continued to test the braces and Tony kept asking questions about them and Rhodey replied honestly until Tony was satisfied. After they were done, they spent more time together until Tony left to go work on the braces.

Rhodey then decided to watch the recording provided by Friday. When he was done watching what had happened Rhodey was enraged more than he had ever been in his life. More so than when he found out just how abusing Howard was. They had used his best friend. Used his for his money, his resources, his tech and new gear, all while constantly guilt tripping him and nit picking at his flaws. Putting all the blame on him, always letting him take the fall for things. They were supposed to be his friends, his family, and they go and betray him in such a way. The Colonel was already mad at how quickly they dismissed Tony when the accords were brought up. How quick they were to turn their backs on him, to not trust him. How Natasha had betrayed and let the super soldiers get away. But this was twisting the knife they had already stabbed him in the back with. He understood why he wouldn’t, couldn’t talk about it. I wave of protectiveness washed over him that he hadn’t felt since their MIT days.

_Flashback end_

“So what brings you by Platypus?” Tony asks his best friend.

“Haven’t seen you in a bit, thought I’d come by and see my best friend,” the dark skinned man replied nonchalantly, “met the delivery guy at the entrance said he had a package for Tony Stank. Thought I’d give it to you.”

“And you’re never going to let that go, great,” Tony replied to him. He grabbed the small package from his teasing friend and opened it. The inside held a letter and a pre-historic cell phone. After reading the note, he got visibly angry. When Rhodes asked what it was he passed it to him to read.

“He has no shame,” Rhodey said in disbelief, “That or he genuinely doesn’t see what is wrong with this apology or with what he did. I can’t believe this.” Tony just shook his head, grabbed the note from him and asked Friday to scan it. He threw it in the shredder afterwards and placed the phone in a drawer without a second thought. Out of sight, out of mind they say.

“Did I tell you about the kid?” Tony asks suddenly, with a smile on his face. Surprised by the change, Rhodey decided to go along with the it.

“Did you do a DNA test to make sure it’s yours?” He replied teasingly, knowing how careful his friend was. How despite the media coverage, it was never as bad as they made it out to be. Don’t get him wrong, it was pretty bad, but not as exaggerated as they made it to be. Plus, too Rhodey, as long as its consensual, he didn’t see anything wrong with it.

“I almost wish he was,” Tony said wistfully. Now that caught Rhodes attention.

“Umm what?” he said.

“Friday tells me that someone is hacking SI but that she wasn’t sure,” Tony starting rambling excited to his friend, “wasn’t sure! Said the only reason she could even tell was because she was seeing it as it happened.”

“She didn’t think to stop them,” His friend asks.

“That’s the thing. Even if she tried she wouldn’t be able to. As soon as there was a change to the code, and I mean one letter or variable or whatever changed, it was covered and made to seem as if it was always there. It was honestly beautiful to watch,” Tony continued to explain, “So then all he does is send a message to Friday asking if he can talk to her? Talk Rhodey! Friday bring up the recording.” Tony made sure the whole recording wasn’t shown seeing as he had to give special approval to view them. That way the boy’s secret identity was kept as such. He just let Rhodey see up to the point where the boy said goodbye. After witnessing what occurred Rhodey could tell why his friend was excited about it instead of frustrated. The boy was obviously smart and didn’t seem to have any ill intentions, and his coding was beautiful to watch. His AI was a surprise, and he already knew Tony wanted to meet this boy. Rhodey let a whistle out.

“Wow, he could give you a run for your money,” He said.

“I know!” the genius exclaimed happily, “He’s mine.”

“I thought you just said he wasn’t”

“I said I wished he was, I haven’t actually checked. Though I know he isn’t. I just want him to be my little protégé. Take him under my wing and let him run rampant in SI’s R&D.”

“Tony, you can’t just take a kid, that’s kidnapping.”

“Nope, not if I get consent from his aunt.”

“His aunt, why his aunt. Tony, you don’t even know who this kid is.”

“Rhodey Bear I’m hurt, it’s like you don’t even know me.”

“How did you track that, it’s untraceable.”

“I’m still a genius.”

Friday made a light coughing noise.

“Oh and I had Friday’s help.”


	5. Chapter 5

_Shit, I’m going to be late again_ Peter thinks to himself as he runs towards Midtown High. He lets himself run a little bit faster than he normally would in order to get to the school with enough time to get to Mr. Mills class before he can give him another detention. He sees his two best friends talking near the entrance of the high school and beelines towards them slowing down to a walk.

“Was it another cat,” Ned teases him wearing a knowing smile

“It was the same cat,” Peter says ignoring his friends teasing tone, “I guess she likes me.” Ned and MJ just shake their heads as they walk into the school. When it came to furry pets, or any kind of animal really, Peter was a goner. They were the only things that could keep his mind focused on one thing. So much so that he usually forgot what he was doing as he pet them.

Peter went through his day as he usually did. Spacing off or doodling in his notebook as he took notes. Messing around with formulas on the sideline, trying to come up with a better formula for his web fluid. Answering questions teachers directed at him when they thought he wasn’t paying attention. Trying to find a way to convince his Aunt May to let him keep the cat. The only classes he kind of tried not to let his mind wander in were his History and English classes. He had no interest in either of those topics so he didn’t really learn about them outside of class. Therefore the only knowledge he had in them were what he learned in class. However, he still found that once he heard the lectured and took notes, it was pretty much in his brain. One quick look through of his notes before tests and he was usually good to go. He still found it hard to concentrate in those classes. Unfortunately, English was his last class of the day, making it seem that the class lasted twice as long as the other. Dragging on slowly. At least he shared the class with both Ned and MJ.

MJ is always criticizing the fact that the only books that are read in English classes are so called classics by white males about white males. She spoke up so often that Mrs. Walker had asked for book recommendation for the next book assignment. Mrs. Walker was impressed by MJ’s suggestions, as well as some of the other students', that she changed the book list for the rest of the year. So now they were reading _Their eyes were watching God_ by Zora Neale Hurston. Which Peter had to admit was so much more interesting than Shakespeare. He could never understand Shakespeare and therefore Peter hated Shakespeare.

All of a sudden there was an elbow to his ribs. He looks over the MJ and glares at her. She just nods her head towards someone standing next to him as she gets up to leave and sit next to Ned behind him. When he turns to see who she was gesturing at, he finds Carter LeBlanc. This was the only class he shared with a boy. He didn’t know much about him besides the fact that he really liked literature and was very good at playing the piano. Sometimes he had heard him play after he got out of band back before had he quit. He was taller than Peter, maybe around 5 feet 11 inches, had dark skin and brown eyes. He had kinky 4a curls in a temp fade with a sponge curls hairstyle. Peter realized he was staring.

“Sorry, I tend to space out” he says embarrassed with a slight blush, “I’m guessing we were put into pairs?”

“Yeah, we have to do a project based on one of the book themes, we get to choose,” Carter explained to him as he sat in MJ’s seat. Peter found himself staring again. Carter had a somewhat of a wide nose, had really nice cheekbones and a clean, elegant jawline.

“You really do space out often,” Carter said looking at him. Peter found himself flustered again.

“Yeah I do, sorry. MJ and Ned are always teasing me about it,” He replies looking at his hands, “My brain goes a mile a minute and it’s hard to remain focused on one thing. Especially if I’m not particularly interested in something. Not that I don’t care about English, it’s just that I don’t really like it.” Great now he’s rambling at someone he just met.

“Yeah, you’re known to be some kind of genius in anything STEM, there is rumor that they wanted you to skip high school and go straight to college,” Carter says smiling at Peter.

“Oh uh, I didn’t think people knew who I was,” Peter says timidly.

“Oh yeah there are a few rumors about you. Especially after your uncle’s death when you barely came to school. Then there is the tattoo rumor,” He explains, “Apparently a lot of girls like the whole mysterious thing you’ve got going on.” Peter flinched at the mention of his uncle, he didn’t like remembering the beginning of the school year.

“Shit sorry, that was rude and insensitive,” Carter quickly added on wide eyed.

“Um it’s ok, and I don’t really have a mysterious thing going and tattoos?” Peter tried to play it off.

“Yeah, sure you don’t.” they went on talking about the project, dropping the subject, which Peter was grateful for. He really didn’t like being the center of attention. MJ and Ned were sitting behind them, having been paired with one another. They agreed to meet up on Wednesday after school so that they could all work on it together since Peter had detention that day and the next.

After Ben being brought up, Peter couldn’t seem to get rid of the melancholy cloud that seemed to hang over his head. He thought he had gotten past his uncle’s death, went through all the stages of grief and then some. So why did he seem to always end up down in dumps whenever his uncle was brought up. He should be able to remember Uncle Ben without feeling mournful every time. Ben deserved to be remembered. He mustn’t have hidden it as well as he thought he was because he found both of his best friends following him to detention. It wasn’t unusual for MJ to be there, but Ned had never joined them. He expressed as much.

“You seemed kind of sad in English,” Ned said, “Thought I’d tag along.

"LeBlanc bringing up Ben like that was a bit insensitive,” MJ said, “No tact.”

“Thanks guys, but I’m ok really,” Peter tried, “I’m the one with detention not you.” They ignored the curly haired boy and sat on either side of him. Peter can’t lie and say that he didn’t get a warm feeling in his chest at their actions. Coach put on the Captain America PA, which Ned had never seen before. They snicker and joke about it, and then talk about how dumb the rogues were in handling the Accords and the Winter Soldier. Coach wasn’t super strict when it came to detention, so he didn’t say anything about them talking to one another. By the time Peter was walking home he felt a lot lighter than he had before. He had some amazing best friends. He didn’t know what he would do without them.

* * * *

Peter had barely stepped through the front door of the apartment and was already talking a mile a minute. He had been coming up with different debate points all day on why he should be able to adopt the cat.

“Hey May! I ran into the cat again, you know the one I told you about. And I know you already said no, but I really think you should reconsider about letting me adopt her. I mean cats aren’t as high maintenance as other pets and she isn’t super big so she won’t need a lot of food. Plus I can get a job to pay for all the things she needs. She’s super cute. Half her face is orange with a green eye and the other half of her face is black with a blue eye. The rest of her is tortoiseshell print and I looked it up online and she’s a chimaera cat,” he says without losing breath as he puts down his backpack and an old DVD set he found, “Apparently it’s when two embryos fuse together, so it’s like two cats in one. They even half two sets of DNA! I called her Franklin.

“After Rosalind Franklin that you and MJ were ranting about,” Aunt May replied, accustomed to Peter’s long rants.

“Exactly!” He exclaims excitedly, “And Franklin has sort of a medium length coat but I promise to brush her every day. That way she doesn’t shed everywhere. Plus you know how sensitive I am so I won’t like fur everywhere so you know I’ll actually do it. Plus mindless repetitive actions help my brain calm down. And taking care of her will help with my boredom so I won’t get in as much trouble anymore.” He hears a snort after that last part, a snort that he doesn’t recognize. He must have been so focused on convincing May that his senses didn’t pick up another person in the room. When he turned around he saw Tony Stark sitting with May eating her date loaf, to which Peter cringes at. He loved May, but her cooking was not the best.

“Peter we have a guest,” May says trying to hide a laugh caused by her nephews wide Hazel eyed, surprised expression.

“Oh um, hi. I’m Peter,” He goes to shake Mr. Stark’s hand, “Peter Parker.”

“Tony,” Mr. Stark says.

“Um, why are you here,” Peter asks shuffling from foot to foot nervously, hoping that Mr. Stark didn’t know about his conversation with Friday.

“Well Mr. Stark was telling me about an incident with his AI. Showed me a recording. The voice of the culprit sure sounded like someone familiar,” Aunt May said, and to Peter’s surprise, she didn’t sound upset.

“Ok, umm, I can explain?” Peter said.

“I swear if you start your explanation with ‘I was bored’ I will ground you,” She says before he could start his explanation. Peter heard Mr. Stark cough behind his hand that sounded more like a laugh.

“I wasn’t bored, not this time,” He said carefully, “I was concerned? I mean you heard the audio right. I just wanted to make sure Karen wasn’t having troubling learning just because I might have overlooked something in her code. Friday kind of helped reassure me, but I’m still not super sure.”

“Peter, we had a deal. You could activate Karen as long as you didn’t use her to hack anyone,” May said bewildered.

“She didn’t. I was the one who did the hacking and I barely even hacked Mr. Stark. I hacked the security camera company that he uses to look at who had access to Friday and then I saw them put in their password. Not that 123456 is a good password,” Peter mumbled that last part, “the only thing I did regarding SI was create a backdoor so I could access their network through my computer and logged on using that employees profile. I’m sure Mr. Stark knows that since he saw my code.” When he was done with his explanation, he realized that maybe he shouldn’t have admitted what he did and how he did it in front of his Aunt, whose eye seemed to be twitching, and the man who could press charges.

“In my defense, it’s untraceable. I didn’t think even Friday would have been able to trace me and I didn’t think she would tell Mr. Stark.” Peter said trying to fix the situation, “in hindsight I should have used software to change my voice but I skipped it because I was excited to meet another AI.”

“Peter! You’re not helping your case,” May said sounding more frustrated, “I think you owe Mr. Stark an apology.”

“Oh yeah, of course,” Peter said, then turned to Mr. Stark, “I am really sorry Mr. Stark, I shouldn’t have hacked into your system like that. Are you going to press charges?”

“Apology accepted and no I’m not planning on it,” Mr. Stark explained with a spark in his eye, “Can I have 5 minutes with him.”

“Sure, just let me know if I have to hire a lawyer after all,” Aunt May says walking into the kitchen. He leads Mr. Stark to him bedroom so May can’t overhear their conversation. Mr. Stark looks around his room curiously, stopping to evaluate his desk filled with old tech. They remain silent for a minute until Mr. Stark begins to speak.

“What I don’t get is why you didn’t directly hack Friday? I mean you obviously have the skill to do it.” He says looking straight at Peter.

“Well that would be like really wrong. I mean that’s like being a peeping tom and that’s just gross. I wanted to have her consent see her code, because in a way that’s like her body and mind. What makes her, well her. So yeah.” Peter says not being able to look at Mr. Stark in the eye. Usually people didn’t understand that his train of thought. Mr. Stark nodded slightly.

“You’re good, really good. If Friday hadn’t been recording it, we wouldn't have been able to tell. If Friday wasn't present in all things SI she wouldn't have caught it. And then you removed the backdoor after you were done as well. I didn’t catch that until afterwards.”

“Well yeah, I didn’t want someone to see it and be able to use it. I know what my intentions are but I’m sure people are constantly trying to hack you to get to your tech.”

“That would be correct though most people gave up a long time ago and most people can’t get past the first firewall.” Tony says casually but on the inside he is thoroughly fascinated by the boy in front of him. People usually don’t understand why he treats the bots and Friday as if their real people, but to him they are. The hazel eyed boy in front obviously would agree.

“Do you know that when I matched your audio, Peter Parker wasn’t the first match,” Mr. Stark starts, “The first match was a YouTube video.” Peter tensed after that, knowing that the only YouTube videos with his voice on them were the videos of Spiderman that people took. As he came to this realization Mr. Stark opened the small storage unit on top of his bedroom and his rudimentary suit came down. Mr. Stark grabbed the web fluid container from his web shooters and held it up. 

“Who manufactures this? The tensile strength on this is off the charts” He asks holding the canister holding the fluid up.

“I do,” Peter says rolling his eyes.

“How do you climb the walls, adhesive gloves?”

“It’s a long story.”

“Do you even see in these?” Mr. Stark says holding up the goggles.

“Yes, I can see in those. My senses are dialed to eleven, there is too much input, so they help me focus," Peter said grabbing the goggles from Mr. Stark with some frustration.

“So why do you do this? I gotta know.”

“Because when you do the things that I can, but you don’t. And then the bad things happen, they happen because of you.” Peter said with a serious expression while looking down at his hands.

“So you want to look out for the little guy, do your part?”

“yeah, yeah exactly. Look out for the little guy.”

“Who else knows, no one?” Mr. Stark asks standing up from where he was sitting on Peter’s desk chair.

“My aunt and my two best friends,” Peter says, “That’s it.” Tony looks up at that, surprised that the boy’s aunt knew. He walks out of the room towards the kitchen where May was preparing, or trying to, for dinner.

“You know?” Tony asked her.

“Know what?” She said not giving anything away.

“About the Spideling, Spiderboy,” Tony told her waving his hand around.

“Spiderman,” Peter corrected.

“Not in that onesie you’re not,” Mr. Stark quips back.

“It’s not a onesie,” Peter said defensively

“You’re in a dire need of an upgrade,” Mr. Stark continues, ignoring Peter, “systematically.” All while Aunt May looks between the two of them thinking _Now there is two of them_

“Yes, I do know,” She says answering Tony’s original question before he started bickering with her nephew, “and how did you find out.” Tony proceeded to explain how he found out.

“untraceable huh?” May says turning to Peter.

“in his defense, he was pretty untraceable. Without Friday it would have taken a long time to match the audio to spider-man and in order to match it to Peter some hacking of some government facilities had to be done. No one else would have been able to find him. Though a voice modulator should always be used because you never know.”

“So what are you going to do?” May asked defensively. She didn’t care who Tony Stark was or how much money he had, she wouldn’t let anyone take advantage of her nephew or threaten him in anyway.

“Well as we were talking before, an upgrade. I’d like to mentor him in a way. Offer him a new suit, some backup, make it a bit safer where we can,” Mr. Stark said holding his hands up when he sees May’s defensive stance, “and an internship at SI as my personal intern. My R&D department would love him.”

“And if he decides to decline the offer?” May asks still defensive.

“Then I was never here and know nothing.” Tony says without hesitation. May could see he was sincere in his offer. Peter saw the same thing and could hear that his heartbeat had remained constant though his offer.

“What would this internship entail exactly?” Peter asked thrilled with the offer.

“Well we could work on the suit together, no one knows your abilities like you do so your input is important. Then you would work a usual internship. Working on projects together, getting your own projects to do, running some paperwork between people. You know the usual.”

“Would it be a paid internship?” Peter asked hopeful.

“Yeah sure, I mean all our internships are paid and well-funded,” Mr. Stark said, “I mean look who you’re talking to.” Peter then turned to May with a mischievous grin on his face.

“See, I can afford Franklin. Please?” He asked her faux innocently. Tony let out a startled laugh and May just sighed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my favorite chapter so far. I absolutely HATED shakespeare in high school so I had to add it on there. Also Rosalind Franklin deserved credit for her work.


	6. Chapter 6

“I still can’t believe Aunt May caved and let you keep her,” MJ said to Peter as the four high school students were sitting around the coffee table in Peter’s living room.

“I spent most of Monday coming up with arguments to convince her,” He explained to his friend as he pet Franklin, “I guess she figured either she said yes or she had to keep hearing me ask her.” MJ snorts and nods in agreement.

“So what was your best argument,” Carter asked, not knowing Peter as well and therefore not knowing what his long rants were like. It was Wednesday night and they had been working on their projects for the past hours.

“I told her that Franklin would keep me from getting bored.” Peter turned to say, as if that was explanation enough. It might have been seeing as Ned snorted.

“yeah, I get why she would say yes with that reasoning,” He said.

“Why is Peter being bored a bad thing?” Carter asked still confused.

“Trust me, it’s better if you don’t know,” MJ said with a smirk.

“Tell me again how you don’t have a mysterious thing going on,” Carter says to Peter with a gleam in his eye.

“I don’t. I don’t know why they’re making it a big deal. Remember when I told you that my brain goes a mile a minute. Well sometimes when I’m bored it latches onto an idea or a question and It’s like an itch that I have to scratch so I have to know if said idea works or find an answer to the question. That’s it,” Peter explains not wanting to make a bad impression on the teenager, “I don’t know why they’re making it seem as if it’s something bad. My Aunt May just gets annoyed by it sometimes.”

“More like gets annoyed by how many times you’ve caused the fire alarm to go off,” Ned mutters but everyone is able to hear it.

“It’s only happened like twice. She can’t say anything because she has set it off more times than I can count when she tries a new recipe,” The curly haired boy defends. Carter chuckles lightly and then continues to work on the project. MJ and Ned had decided on doing their project on gender roles while Peter and Carter had decided on race and racism. They had asked Mrs. Walker if Peter and Carter could present after MJ and Ned seeing as their project and themes were very close seeing as MJ wanted to focus not only gender roles but the gender role of a black women during the time set in the book. Peter and Carter had decided that Carter would introduce and explain the roles of race and racism throughout the book seeing as he understood the topic on a much more personal and deeper level the Peter did. Peter would then find the different instances in the book where the theme was present and, explain it and connect it back to the theme. MJ and Ned has a similar set up since MJ had to deal with gender roles in ways that the three boys haven’t, and probably never will.

Ned got a call from his mom that she wanted him home soon and had to leave. Ned offered to walk MJ home so she wouldn’t have to walk alone when it was getting late, and she had left with him. Peter was left alone with Carter, since May was working a night shift.

“Umm I wanted to apologize to you,” Carter said reluctantly but still looking straight at Peter, “I was tactless when I brought up your uncle the other day.”

“Oh, no its okay,” Peter said stunned at the apology, “and you already apologized.”

“Yeah,” Carter agreed, “But it was obviously a hard time for you. Anyone could see that. I shouldn’t have brought it up so flippantly when you clearly don’t like talking about it. I saw your expression when I brought it up. So I’m sorry.”

“Apology accepted,” Peter replied with a wide smile, “It’s fine really, but I appreciate it.”

“You’re a really nice guy Peter,” Carter says smiling back at him, “We should hang out sometime. Outside of the project.”

“Oh, yeah definitely.”

* * * *

Peter was walking down the street towards The Art of Ink tattoo shop, trying not to overthink what Carter had said. What did he mean by hang out? Did he mean get to know each other and become friends? Were they already friends? Did he mean hang out as more than friends? Did Peter want it to be as more than friends? Carter was very good looking, but he doesn’t really know him yet. So far he seems really nice, and he apologized very sincerely. He has very nice teeth and awesome hair he wants to touch. But he can’t just touch his hair without asking, that’s rude. He learned that from MJ when he wanted to see one her curls bounce so he had pulled on it a little to see it bounce back. He remembers being in his third grade class and being really bored. MJ sat in front of him and so he kept himself entertained by watching her curls move when she moved her head. After he had pulled her strand of hair she had whipped her head around to see him and had said.

“You’re not supposed to touch people’s hair without permission. It’s rude.”

Even as a five year old MJ had a death glare. So Peter would always ask her from then on. Though most of the times she had said no. Anyway, he really wished he could touch his hair but he didn’t know Carter enough to ask without it being weird. But now he can’t get it out of his head, stupid brain.

“Peter, are you stuck in that head of yours again?” Santi said pulling him out of his thoughts. He was a tall, bronzed, Puerto Rican, man with tattoos visible up and down his arms. Though Peter’s favorite was the one he had on his left shoulder that went into his arm. There were filled in circles going in spiral with another line of circles parallel to it. Single lines connected circles from one line to the other creating a more complex spiral with overlapping lines. It reminded Peter of the Fibonacci sequence, even though the tattoo wasn’t quite a Fibonacci spiral.

“Sorry, I didn’t even realize that I had walked in already,” Peter replied. He has walked to the tattoo shop so often in the past couple of months that he could walk to it blindfolded. When he gets injured as Spiderman, he usually came to the shop to have Santi look them before he heads home. The tattoo shop isn’t very big in size, but it’s big enough that six artists can be working at once. The walls are a muted blue-grey color. At the front is the black reception desk with a dark grey couch for clients to wait in. There are water jugs with dispensers at the bottom for people. Beyond the desk there is six stations set up for tattooing, each with the name of the artist on the wall. A black chair like the ones seen at dentist offices for the client to sit on and a stool for the artist. There are curtains that can be opened and closed to separate the stations in case someone wants a bit more privacy. The curtains are held up by a horizontal beam that is connected to the roof by metal wires.

“How’s school been? That kid still bothering you,” the tall man says while giving Peter a one armed hug.

“Yeah, but it’s ok,” Peter said.

“It’s not but I’ll leave it alone,” Santi replies knowing how stubborn Peter can be, “did you like the design.”

“Yes!,” Peter said excitedly. Santi had sent over the design while he had been working on his project with the others. It was a dark crimson rose that was fully bloomed. On one side it was alive and healthy but as it goes further right it starts to crinkle and wither. With petals that seem to be falling. The further the petal is away from the flower the more dry and dead the petal looked. The design in done in an illustrative style.

“I was thinking we could put it on your upper back, on your left,” Santi explains my gesturing to the region on himself, “It’ll take about 4 hours, which is why I told you to come earlier. Your aunt will kill me if I keep you out past 1.” Peter took off his shirt and sat with his chest leaning against the chair so that his back was accessible. Santi was bustling around getting the tattoo machine ready and opening a new needle. Putting out the different ink colors he would be using. He placed the stencil onto Peter's skin and started working.

“So are you going to tell me what has got you so unfocused today?” He asks the boy.

“Just overthinking, as always,” Peter said nervous to say more.

“do you want to talk about it or…” Santi said knowing that sometimes Peter needed coaxing when it comes to talking about things that are on his mind.

“I have a partner for a project in English. He asked me if I wanted to hang out besides working on the project. But I don’t know what kind of hang out he meant,” Peter admits.

“Is there more than one kind of hang out?” Santi asks knowing that if he feigned ignorance the smart kid would get frustrated and share more.

“Yes! There is the friend hang out and then there is the hang out where it’s like an unofficial date and sometimes it ends with a make out session that leads to becoming something more,” The boy explains with an eye roll, “How old are you again?”

“Shut up punk,” the ex-marine says, “so which do you want it to be?”

“I don’t really know. I mean today is the most I have spent time with him and my friends were there the whole time,” The bright eyed kid explained.

“So does that mean you like boys?” Santi asks hesitantly.

“I’m bi,” Peter said quickly, “Though no one besides you knows, and my Uncle Ben knew. Pretty sure he knew before I did.” Peter found that one of the only times he could talk about his uncle was when he was getting tattooed. Santi coaxed him to tell him how and Peter told him the story.

Peter had locked himself in his room after his fight with Ned. Ben walked into his room and sat down next to him and rubbed his back is soothing circles until he talked.

“Ned and I fought,” He started explaining, “He thinks I’m bored of him but I told him I got bored in school. It’s not the same thing but he wouldn’t understand.” Ben hadn’t said anything and continued to rub the sad boy’s back. He found that whenever Peter wanted to talk about something it was better for him to get it out in one go. Asking questions would only help side track him and Peter would sometimes get frustrated when his brain moved on to the next thing before he could get it out.

“I just don’t get it! I didn’t do anything wrong. Why did he get mad, he’s never gotten mad when this comes up. It’s not my fault my stupid brain is different. I hate it! The teachers don’t like me, other kids don’t like me. I can’t control it,” The boy continued as he let his frustrations out, but Ben could only see his loose curls move when he spoke since his face was buried into the pillow, “What if he doesn’t want to be my friend anymore Uncle Ben?”

“He will Peter,” Ben tell the boy reassuringly, “He’s just afraid of losing best friend.”

“No he isn’t. This time it was different, he was so mad. He wasn’t scared or nervous,” Peter said.

“Maybe he’s jealous?” Ben asks. This was the hardest thing about raising a kid, trying to reassure them when you don’t know the whole story.

“Jealous? He’s already super smart without having the deal with the bad parts. Teachers love Ned. And people understand him. No one understands me Uncle Ben. No one gets how my mind works. Not you, not Aunt May, not MJ or Ned. You all get frustrated with me. And I get why! He can have my brain if he wants it,” The boy says with tears in his eyes.

“Hey, we might not understand you or how you struggle in that head of yours. I wish I did but I don’t, but that doesn’t mean I love you any less, or May loves you any less. We wouldn’t trade any part of you for anything. And Ned might not see what you struggle with, he might just see that you get to go with the older kids if you want,” Ben tries calm Peter down. There had been many times while Peter was growing up when he was disheartened that no one could really relate to him in that way.

“He’ll always be your friend,” Ben says hoping that he isn’t proved wrong.

“I like him a lot Ben,” The boys says quietly.

“I know you do, he’s your best friend,” The man says.

“No, I mean I like him how you’re supposed to like girls,” Peter says even quieter.

“What do you mean how you’re supposed to like girls? Do you like MJ like that?”

“No MJ is my friend. I mean like how I use to have a crush on Emma.”

“Oh I see, well you don’t _have_ to like girls as more than just friends. Sometimes boys like boys and girls like girls. Sometimes you can like both,” Ben said carefully, “Nothing wrong with that. Sometimes people don’t like anybody and that’s ok too.”

“Really?” Peter asked making eye contact with Ben for the first time during their conversation.

“Yeah, really,” Ben said smiling, “I still love you the same and so will May.”

“Thanks Uncle Ben,” Peter said hugging him, “I love you too, but could we maybe not tell May yet. Please?”

“Sure.” The man agreed easily.

“He never told me I was bi, I think he wanted me to be able to do that for myself. It wasn’t until the beginning of this year that I really labelled myself as such. I guess I justified having a slight crush on Ned because we were so close you know, so I didn’t worry about it. But when I finally told myself that I was bisexual, it was as if something fell into place. I was able to tell Ben one night when we were making dinner together while May was at work. He had hugged me and told me he loved me. I wanted his help in telling May but that week he…” Peter trailed off, “Well you know what happened.”

“Well I’m honored to be the second person to know,” Santi said touched at Peter’s trust, “You’re a great kid, even though sometimes you’re a punk.” Santi had to stop tattooing as Peter turned to beam up at him.

“Thanks Santi.”

“So this boy, you think you might like him. My advice, just go with what feels right and don’t overthink it. If he ends up just wanting to be friends or is straight then that’s that. If he ends up liking you then continue with that. Just communicate with him, that’s important. And consent, always consent. Always get that yes, don’t hear a yes then consent isn’t given,” Santi said.

“I know about consent. Don’t worry about having to give me the talk Santi. Uncle Ben gave me it when I came out to him. He did research on same sex couples and covered everything. It was mortifying,” Peter said glad that he wasn’t facing the man that had become a close friend to him.

“I wasn’t going to give you the talk kid, I was going to leave that to your aunt. But good on your uncle for doing it and doing some research. But you can never be reminded enough about consent,” Santi explained as he started adding color to the design, “you uncle sounds like a great man based on everything you’ve told me about him.

“He was,” Peter said sadly, “He was the best.”

“Have you thought about coming out to your aunt and friends?”

“Yeah, but I’m just nervous.”

“It can just be as simple as telling your aunt you like this boy, or you can make it into something more. Whatever you feel most comfortable with kid.”

“Thanks. You’re pretty great too Santi.”

“I know.” Santi said confidently, making Peter laugh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really liked this chapter and how it came out. In my state (I live in the US) it is legal for 16+ to get tattoos with parental consent, but in New York it isn't legal until your 18. I'm use to teenagers getting tattoos so I thought it would still be realistic for Peter to get tattoos in this story even though he is only 15.


	7. Chapter 7

It had been a week since he met the Peter and had put in the paperwork for Peter to be his personal intern. Since then, Tony has been locked up in the lab coming up with different ideas for the suit. His main focus being on helping with the sensory input Peter said he had trouble with. He figured the kid also had trouble with the input as a civilian and was trying to come up with discrete ways to help. He was also working on figuring out what SI projects the mini genius might enjoy and also speaking to SI lawyers to make sure any work he does do will be compensated for. Of course at some point the boss would find out so he wasn’t surprise to see her enter his lab.

“Tony, what is this about creating a position for a personal intern,” Pepper said as she walked in, “You always say they can’t keep up with you.”

“This one can,” Tony says without looking up. His and Peppers friendship had been very strained since their latest break up. Pepper did visit him when he was in the hospital. According to Rhodey, she had been there almost every day while he was in a coma. After he had woken up she had tried to convince him to get back together, saying that almost losing him had made her realize that she wanted to get back together. But Tony was mourning his parents all over again and he was dealing with betrayal. He had asked her to wait to have that conversation without giving much detail, and without telling her about his parents. She hadn’t been happy about it but she understood and respected it. Since then Pepper had tried to bring it up a few times, but each time Tony had told her he needed more time. Each time they had gotten into worse arguments.

“Friday won’t even let me know who it is? Just that they passed the background check,” Pepper said exasperated, “You can’t be involved with your employee Tony, if this is some sort of college kid you think is cute.”

“Okay, I’m going to stop you right there Ms. Potts,” Tony said frustrated, “I’m not having this conversation here. Let’s go upstairs.” They head to the Penthouse, that Tony had redone before he got out of the hospital. It’s warmer than it used to be. He goes to sit down on the couch gesturing for Pepper to sit.

“Oh are we finally having a conversation,” Pepper starts.

“Well seeing as you won’t give me time, don’t really have much of a choice,” Tony snarks at her, but then softens, “I don’t want to argue Pepper. Can I go first?” Pepper sits back and crosses her legs as well as her hands. Tony makes a note that she’s defensive.

“First, it’s not some cute college kid okay. I’m offended that you think I would be so unprofessional. Also why would I do that if I told you I would have this conversation with you in time? That would be sending mixed signals,” Tony started trying not let his frustration get the best of him, “The reason why no one besides myself has access to his file is because he is a minor and I don’t want it getting out that I have a personal intern. I don’t want the media to try and follow him or for him to be a target. That’s all I’m going to say on the matter.”

“How did you even find him?” Pepper asked.

“He has a project that caught Friday’s attention, then caught my attention,” Tony said, a glint of mischief that Pepper hadn’t seen in him for a long time, “I’ve done all the paper work, got his guardian to agree, we set up a schedule, the whole legal process. Soon as everything goes through he’ll start coming in.”

“Ok, and what about us?” Pepper asked looking straight at him, never one to back down. Tony sighs and sits back, running his hand through his hair.

“Every time we’ve broken up, it was because you wanted to. Which is fine because you had your reasons and I know I’ve put you through hell. But a common theme has always been the suits and Iron Man. You not liking Iron Man is like you not liking me. Because I am Iron Man. I have been him since that cave and I will always be him. I might step back every once in a while but I will never be able to stay behind in an emergency situation when I know I can help. So I don’t understand how you want to get back together when that will never change. I’m just tired of the off and on again, going back and forth.” Tony tried to explain, but expressing himself has never been a strong suit.

“I just don’t understand Tony,” Pepper said, “Why do you need to be Iron Man?”

“You’ll never understand. No one will understand what that cave was like and what it did to me. And that’s okay. But what you do need to understand is that I don’t need to be Iron Man. I am Iron Man. Asking me to choose between Iron Man and you is like asking me to choose between myself and you. And normally I choose you in an instant because I’ve always thought you’re too good for me. But my therapist says that isn’t fair to me, or you. I’m trying to become better so, it’s either all of me or none of me,” Tony says.

“You’re going to therapy?” Pepper asks.

“Rhodey made me,” Tony says quickly with a pout that turned into a small smile. This was easier, this was familiar. The joking and the humor.

“Tony no one can make you do anything you don’t want to do,” Pepper says smiling back fondly.

“Well Rhodey used something that was a one-time deal, had it saved since MIT,” Tony says, “Personally I don’t think it’s fair but he played dirty.”

“What was it,” Pepper asked curiously.

“Nope, no one gets to know the card he played, that was my only condition in agreeing to go to therapy,”

“hmmm” Pepper said. There was a silent pause for a couple of minutes until Tony just let out what he was thinking but didn’t want to say.

“If you can accept the suits and Iron Man, then I’m willing to try this again Pep. But if not then it won’t work. And if we try again then I need for us to take it slow. I love you Pep, I do. Really think about it and let.” He said softly. He gets up and heads back down to his lab feeling exhausted, but stops to kiss her on the head. That had been hard. He really just wanted to say yes, but he knew that it was the right thing to do both for him and for Pepper. It had been hard for him to realize that he could ask for things that he couldn’t compromise in. It had taken him a while, but his therapist was patient. Rhodey had recommended her, and had Friday book an appointment with her even before ‘convincing’ Tony to go. Tony had done a deep background check to make sure she was who she said she was and to see how trustworthy she was. Rhodey had played his royal flush after Tony had called him and asked him to get rid of all the alcohol within the tower. It was during his recovery when everything was still so fresh, it made drinking too tempting. He had a handle on his drinking before then, but he knew that if he had let himself succumb to the temptation then that it would be like when his parents had first died. He had gotten mad at being so weak and had called his best friend to throw it all away. After Rhodey was done, he had hugged the angry man and told him he was so proud of him for asking for help. Two days later Rhodey had shown up and showed his hand.

Dr. Brown was a no bull shit kind of person, blunt, but patient. Tony had liked her right away. She had seen when he used humor as a defense mechanism and was patient and let Tony drop his masks little by little. He had been meeting with her once a week for five months now and things were going pretty good. He had only gotten mad three times, but it was never at her. It was at being told things he didn’t want to hear. She helped him realize that Ultron wasn’t his fault. He had created a program with Dr. Banner but it was years away from reality. The mind stone’s influence and Wanda’s manipulation on him had played a big role in his creation. It didn’t make sense that Tony had created multiple AIs that were all good and for Ultron to be evil. His sessions still focused on his misplaced guilt and why he tended to take the blame for things that weren’t his fault. It had been slow going so far.

He wasn’t in the lab long before Rhodey walked in. He was around a lot more after his paralysis. The air force didn’t discharge him since the braces helped him walk, but he wasn’t put on any missions either. He became a liaison between the Avengers and the U.S. military while also being co-leader of the Avengers along with Tony. At first the UN hadn’t agreed to make Rhodey co-leader as he was still active in the military and thought it was a conflict of interest. It had been a labyrinth of protocols and procedure that were ratified in order to please both parties. It had all given Tony a big migraine, but if it meant his best friend was around more often, then it was worth the pain.

“Hey, I saw Pepper in your living room. You back together?” His friend asked

“No,” Tony said and proceeded to recount their conversation to the Colonel.

“That’s good Tony,” Rhodey said.

“Yeah? Not to demanding or unfair?” Tony said filled with doubt, “Dr. Brown said it would be good.”

“No it’s good. I knew you would like Dr. Brown,” Rhodey said smirking. Tony just rolled his eyes

“Yes, well it was forced upon me. At least you found me someone I would like,” Tony said rolling his eyes at the time, “thanks for the recommendation Platypus.”

“Any time Tony.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not a fan of how this chapter turned out. I had a hard time writing it.


	8. Chapter 8

Peter was nervous, but he couldn’t tell anyone that. He had been working on his project with Carter for over two weeks and today would be their first time hanging out without the excuse of the project. They had only gotten together with MJ and Ned one other time for the project, and worked alone for the rest of it. He had gotten to know Carter better since then. He didn’t really know if he liked Carter as more than a friend then, but now he knows that he does. The only problem now is that he doesn’t know if Carter likes him back. Does Carter even like guys? Is this a friend hangout? But then wouldn’t he have invited Ned and MJ, or some of his friends? He was overthinking this.

_Okay just act like you’re hanging out with a friend. Start there. Don’t be weird._ He thought to himself. At that moment he wished that he had someone to ask for advice but he didn’t want May to find out yet. Instead she thought that he is going to go watch a movie with Carter, which he is. She just didn’t know that it is more than a hangout, but then again neither did he. _Stop over thinking_ he reminded himself.

He met up with Carter at the movie theatre. When he arrived Carter had already gotten their tickets, but Peter paid for their snacks. Peter was a bit awkward at first. They usually had the topic of their project he could fall back on whenever it was just the two of them. Thankfully conversation isn’t big during movies and he didn’t have to worry about being an awkward mess. He ended up really enjoying the movie they had gone to see. Watching a good movie allows Peter to focus on it, otherwise he usually ends up lost in thought without paying attention the plot. He got so focused on the movie that he forgot he was in the theatre with Carter and it wasn’t until the lights were coming on that he remembered. It ended up being a good thing because it made him a lot less nervous and now he had something to talk about.

“I’m glad you liked the movie. I figured it would be safe to watch Star Wars since I know you love it,” Carter said to Peter.

“I do! How did you know?” Peter asked the dark skinned boy.

“You talked to Ned about it the first day we worked on the project,” Carter explained, “MJ had to smack you guys with some paper to get you to focus.”

“Oh yeah, I remember that,” Peter said blushing, “do you like it? You didn’t sit through over two hours of a movie to watch something you don’t like right?”

“No I do. My dad is a really big fan so I grew up watching them. I’m not a super fan like you, but I do like them,” Carter said smiling at Peter, “Why do you like them so much?”

“Ned’s dad introduced us to it. I guess it was one of my first introductions to science even if it is fictional. Well mostly fictional. Did you know that Dr. Ben Bromley and Dr. Scott Kenyon discovered the possibility for a planet to orbit two suns like Tatooine. They used mathematical simulation to find that earthlike planets could have two suns, and that it could be wide spread,” Peter explained excitedly. Carter was slightly amused at Peter’s getting side tracked while answering his question. When Peter had said that his brain tends to go a mile a minute, he thought it was an exaggeration. But the more he got to know the hazel eyed boy the more he realizes that its true.

“That’s actually really cool,” Carter said, “what was once thought of as fiction to be discovered as possible.”

“Exactly!” Peter exclaimed looking directly at Carter with wide eyes. Carter decided to ask Peter if he wanted to go get some coffee together since it was getting colder and colder in the city. They ended up at a cat café similar to the ones seen in Japan. Peter was banned from drinking coffee so ended up ordering a hot chocolate. The café was separated in two different areas. The front part was where you ordered and could sit without the cats. Then there was a small gate and on the other side there were more seats along with cats of all types. There was also a small outdoor patio area that was closed as the climate got chillier. The two boys decided to sit by a window in the cat area enjoying their drinks and the chocolate croissants they ended up ordering.

“I didn’t know these existed in New York,” Peter expressed as he pet a cat sitting on the window sill, “This is so cool.”

“Yeah I found out about it after a quick search online,” Carter said smiling as he took a sip from his coffee, “So why aren’t you allowed to have coffee?”

“Oh it a bit embarrassing actually. I don’t get crazy energetic or anything,” Peter started to explain turning his attention away from the cat to the boy whom he was talking to, “When I drink coffee I tend to not sleep and can go a day or two without sleeping until I pass out. One time, I fell asleep during a class and they couldn’t get me to stay awake. It got really bad at the beginning of the school year. May and I got in a really big fight about it, so now I don’t drink anymore coffee.”

“That isn’t really that embarrassing,” Carter said as he saw Peter scratch the back of his neck. Something the boy did when he felt flustered.

“Fighting with your aunt about coffee is a bit embarrassing. It was a really big fight. And drooling on my desk, yeah definitely not embarrassing,” Peter said at his own expense.

“Okay drooling at school is a bit embarrassing,” Carter said with a small laugh as he imagined a drooling Peter Parker as the teacher tried to shake him awake. They sat at the cozy coffee shop talking about anything and everything. Peter told Carter about Franklin and her first visit to the vet and how much she despised it. How she had cried about it an hour after they had got home. Carter then told Peter about his dog that was getting old but still acted like a puppy. They talked about school and their respective friends groups.

“MJ and Ned seem really cool. Though MJ is a bit intimidating,” Carter said.

“Yeah they’re great. I’ve known them most of my life. MJ can be intimidating, but she has a big heart and really cares about her friends,” Peter explained, “She’s just very blunt.”

“Do you know if she is going out with anyone?” Carter asked hesitantly. Peter wilted at hearing the question. He wanted to know if MJ was going out with anyone? Is that why he wanted to hang out? _God, I’m so stupid_ Peter thought to himself _Of course he likes MJ, who wouldn’t?_

“No she isn’t. Why?” Peter replied with a small smile.

“So you two aren’t a thing or anything?” Carter asked avoiding looking at Peter.

“Me and MJ?” Peter asked surprised, “No, she’s my best friend. That’s it.”

“Oh ok. I thought you two were going out,” Carter said with a bright smile, “That’s good to know. Do you want to start heading out?” After Peter nodded they left the coffee shop and walked towards the subway station. They walked towards Peter’s apartment as Carter’s mom was going to pick him up from there. When they got there they sat on the couch and watched the Mandalorian.

“I really liked hanging out with you,” Carter said.

“Oh thanks. I had a lot of fun with you too,” Peter replied genuinely, “You’re a really cool guy Carter.”

“I tried to get to know you, before we got paired up for the project, but you’re kind of hard to get to know,” Carter said hesitantly, “You a bit intimidating.”

“Me intimidating?” Peter said shocked, completely ignoring the everything else Carter had said, “Me, the guy who drools on desks and gets excited about cat cafes?”

“Well now I know you aren’t,” Carted said after laughing, “but even if you don’t admit it, You have the whole mysterious heartthrob thing you have going on.”

“Ha, sure I do,” Peter said sarcastically.

“You do. Not many people know you and you usually keep to yourself unless you're with MJ or Ned,” Carter tried to explain his reasoning.

“Do you still think that after getting to knowing me better?” Peter asked curiously.

“Yes, but I also know you’re funny, a little awkward,” Carter said.

“Hey!” Peter exclaimed faux offended, lightly pushing Carter against his side. He turned his whole body to face Carter.

“I’m not that awkward.”

“That’s why I said a little,” Carter said smiling as he teased the genius boy, gaining confidence, “But you’re also cute.” Carter didn’t wait to see Peter’s reaction to the compliment and leaned in to kiss him. Peter was shocked at the action and tensed up at the kiss, causing Carter to quickly pull back.

"Oh god, Peter, I’m so sorry,” Carter rushed with embarrassment, “I read this whole day completely wrong.”

“No! um you didn’t,” Peter said trying to get out of his shock, “I just thought you liked MJ.”

“MJ?”

“Well you asked if she was seeing anyone.”

“I was trying to find out if _you_ were seeing her,” Carter explained, “I didn’t want to kiss you if you were going out with her.”

“Oh,” Peter said quietly.

“But that doesn’t mean I should have kissed you,” Carter said, “I just like you and I didn’t know if you liked me or if you even like guys…”

“I do,” Peter said cutting him off, “Like you I mean. Well I also like guys, but that's implied in me liking you. I was just caught off guard. I mean I wasn’t sure if this was a date or not.”

“It could be,” Carter said smiling, regaining his confidence.

“Ok,” Peter said timidly, “Can I kiss you?”

“Yeah,” Carter said with a smirk. The kiss was soft and gentle, but hesitant. As they gained confidence, so did the kiss. But before it got anywhere further Carter’s phone rang.

“It’s my mom,” Carter said smiling, “see you at school?”

“Yeah,” Peter replied smiling his brain not quite catching up.

* * * *

“Are you busy?” Pepper asked as she walked into the lab. It had been a couple of days since her and Tony’s last conversation. She had put a lot of thought to what Tony has said to her then. She never meant to make him feel like he had to hide a part of himself, like she only liked parts of him. She had always distinguished Iron Man from Tony Stark and realized how much harm she did in doing so. Tony wasn’t a perfect man. He was impulsive, could be obsessive about certain things, shut off, pushed people away who only tried to help, and the list went on. But he was also kind, funny, obviously smart, generous, caring, and most of all, recognized when he was wrong. Something she hadn’t been doing in their relationship. She admitted that she had the tendency to put the blame on Tony when it didn’t work out, and never even thought about her contribution. Seeing him after Siberia had been heartbreaking. Tony refusing to tell her what had happened was just as heartbreaking. Her not knowing what was going on in his life, not even realizing he was going to therapy, was heartbreaking. She always thought that they would at least remain close friends, but this time had been different. He was no longer letting her in. The first weeks after getting out of the hospital he had even taken her access away from the lab, only reinstating it when Rhodey argued that she needed it for work in regards to the company. That had hurt. At first she was angry about how he was acting. Now she understood a little more. Tony was tired and hurt and trying to build himself back up from whatever had happened during the civil war. So yes, she did put a lot of thought into what Tony had said.

“I’m always busy, but I can make some time for you,” Tony said looking up at her with a smirk. Pepper smiled realizing he was having a good day.

“How generous of you,” She replied matching his smirk, “good day?”

“Yes, sleep without nightmares always makes for a good day,” Tony said returning to his work, “Dr. Brown is a bit of a miracle worker that women.”

“I’m glad Rhodey suggested her,” Pepper said and after a moment of silence adds, “I thought about our conversation.”

“Oh, let’s go to the penthouse to talk,” Tony said, still smiling.

“Can I ask why?” Pepper asked. As they walked to the elevator.

“Dr. Brown said if my lab is my ‘safe space’,” Tony started explaining with air quotes and rolling his eyes, “Then I should separate it from other aspects of my life to keep it that way.” Pepper hummed in acknowledgement. When they reach the penthouse they sat in the same place as they had last time without thinking. Pepper took off her shoes and comfortably settled on the chair which knowing that Tony would take notice and become less tense.

“I wanted to start by apologizing,” Pepper said determined looking straight at him, “It was never my intention to make you feel as if you had to compromise a part of yourself and who you are in order to be with me. It wasn’t my intention to put you in that position and I’m really sorry Tony.”

“I didn’t say the things I said to put the blame on anyone or make you feel bad Pepper,” Tony said.

“I know, but I realized what I was doing. And you’re right, it isn’t fair to you,” Pepper reassured the man, “So I’m sorry.” Tony had never been left speechless up until that point. No one has ever apologized to him, not that he remembers. Maybe Jarvis when he was a kid. He didn’t quite know how to react. Pepper must have come to that conclusion because her expression turned wistful.

“I uh forgive you?” Tony replied feeling unsure of his response, because who was he to forgive someone, he who has made more mistakes than most. Bigger mistakes than most.

“Thank you Tony,” Pepper said smiling at him, “I want to try again, Tony.

“Iron Man included? No getting mad or frustrated when I work on the suits or when I go out on a mission?” Tony asked.

“I’ll worry but I’m not going to hold it against you anymore,” Pepper reassured him, “But I wish you took better care of yourself. Sleep more, eat at regular hours and more than just takeout. Find a balance.”

“That’s fair, I can try that,” Tony readily agreed.

“That’s all I ask,” Pepper said, “I also have the final paperwork for your intern. He just needs his badge printed on the first day.”

“Finally,” Tony said, “What was taking so long. It’s been weeks. What was Happy even doing.”

“All employees and interns need a background check,” Pepper said.

“He’s fifteen, what background does he have to check,” Tony said dramatically.

“Boss, Ms. Romanoff is trying to enter the building,” Friday interrupts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finished reading the Throne of Glass series this week and it's probably my favorite series as of now. Highly recommend the series for those who like the YA genre. Also I know nothing about psychology except for what I learned in AP Psych in high school so don't take anything in this fic as fact. The only thing I remember from that class is the Freud was kind of crazy and something about penis envy? Though the two suns for a planet has been found to be possible!


	9. Chapter 9

After letting Steven and the Winter Soldier get away in Germany, she had helped them break out the others from the raft. She had gone with them to Wakanda for a while before she grew restless and left. Natasha decided that it had been time to go home and try to help repair things. She was up to date on all the work Tony had been doing with the Accords. He got a firm hand on the steering wheel and drove until they got to the point where they were near a perfect compromise between what the UN wanted and what benefited the Avengers. The others hadn’t taken notice, they just saw it as Tony still backing the Accords. The Accords he signed that tore the team apart. They had a lot of misplaced anger towards the man. Natasha liked to think that she knew better. She knew that they had no choice but to play the game of politics. If they didn’t, it wouldn’t matter how enhanced they were they would end on the losing side. The side that resulted in over one hundred and seventeen countries looking for them. The side that she was currently on regardless of the fact that she had signed the original copy. She also knew that Tony didn’t agree with the Raft; could bet her life on it. Sam had told them of Tony’s visit to the raft in search for Steve’s location. What Sam and the others didn’t know is that when Tony hacked their audio system, he also left a window for someone else to get into the security system. A window she used to break them out as quickly as they did. Without it, it would have taken longer than it had. So yes, it was time for her to go home.

Natasha stood the small lobby of the tower’s private entrance. She wasn’t surprised to find that she no longer had access to any part of the tower. She was surprised when Friday had taken the time to ask what she needed. She was even more surprised when Tony had granted to let her go to the Avenger’s common floor. When she opened the door he was sitting on the couch with his coffee mug in hand. He looked the same overall but seemed different. He seemed tired ,but at the same time lighter. A juxtaposition that somehow fit the man in front of her. But there was something there that he wasn’t quite showing, his walls up and mask on. One that she couldn’t get a read on.

“To what do I owe the pleasure Ms. Romanoff?” Tony said.

“Wanted to come home, wanted to see if there was one to come back to,” Natasha explained. Tony stood and paced back and forth taking a sip from his mug.

“Wanted to come home? Funny timing. Coming home after the Accords have been amended, coming home after I convinced the UN that you let them go to avoid further damage and possible casualties, so they wouldn’t go after you. Home, after months?” Tony said in a calm manner that made her uneasy, “But I deserve everything right? It’s all my fault. Isn’t that what you and your merry band of bandits believe in Wakanda?”

“You knew where we were?” Natasha asked, but Tony just replied by giving her a look.

“I don’t agree with them Tony, and I didn’t come back sooner because I didn’t know I wasn’t being chased after.”

“Do you want to try again? With some honesty,” Tony pointed out knowing Natasha made it a point to know about anything that might put her in danger, but Natasha didn’t say anything else.

“Answer me this one thing then, with the truth. Did you know?” Tony said letting the cracks of his mask of humor and arrogance show, “About my parents and the Winter Soldier.” Natasha made a slightly surprised facial expression and that was everything that Tony needed to know. He walked towards the elevator and turned before he entered it.

“You can stay at the compound, make sure you get in contact with the UN council to let them know your back in town. Stay away from the tower.”

* * * *

Peter had stayed awake late last night thinking about the previous day with Carter. About his date with Carter. After Carter had left the apartment he had felt restless and decided to go on a patrol. He had come across a mugging of a teenage girl and was able to help. He stopped two car robberies and even helped an old women who had then given him a churro. It was one of the best days he had had in a long time. When he had come back home, he still couldn’t get his kiss with Carter out of his mind. He couldn’t help but smile. It was his first kiss with a boy and it felt really nice. It felt nice not to be so confused anymore. And Carter was a very good kisser. Peter’s day had been so great that he thought he was ready to tell his friends but he didn’t know when nor how he was going to do it.

It was Sunday, the day Ned, MJ, and Peter usually all hung out together. They had decided to do another movie night in Peter’s apartment since none of them wanted to go out in the cold to do something else. Peter had finished cleaning his room and brushing Franklin, trying not to get nervous. He wasn’t this nervous when he told Santi, it had just come out in conversation. All he needed to do was find an opening in their conversation to lead Ned and MJ to come to the conclusion themselves or give him a window to slip it in.

Once he finished brushing Franklin and using a roller to get all the extra fur from his bed he laid down with her on his chest. Franklin was a very affectionate cat and loved cuddling up to Peter. Peter also liked how she knew when he needed a distraction and would sit on his lap so he could pet her. The right side of her face was black with a blue eye and the left was orange with a green eye. The two different colors would then blend in her neck area and the rest of her body was a tortoiseshell pattern. She had her own cat bed she could sleep on if she wanted to, but Peter would wake up most morning with her on his nestled into his neck. Peter was lost in thought when he heard Ned arrive to their floor and walk towards his front door along with MJ. They opened the door without knocking as they usually did on Sundays, and headed towards his bedroom. He didn’t bother getting up from his bed, used to his friends climbing onto his bed to sit on it. The three of them could talk for hours on end about anything and everything.

“Are you decent?” Ned asked as he walks through the door of Peter’s bedroom

“It kind of defeats the purpose if you ask as you open the door Ned,” Peter said to his friend as MJ sat on the bed and started petting Franklin.

“Yeah but at this point do we really care?” Ned asked knowing that his friend probably heard when he had gotten onto the elevator. Peter shrugged in response, because no he didn’t really care. Ned had walked in on him when he was in his boxers multiple times.

“So if I walked in on you stark naked you wouldn’t care?” MJ asked her eyebrows raised in question.

“Yes I would and you know it,” Peter said, “It’s different.”

“Yeah, yeah don’t get your panties in a twist. I was just teasing you,” MJ said directing her attention back to the cat that was now sitting on her lap. The talked for a while about school and upcoming midterms before they had their winter break. Peter hadn’t told them about his internship yet because for some reason he didn’t want them to know. He also didn’t want to start an argument and he had a feeling Ned would get mad at Peter for not telling him sooner. Things like that seemed to be a sensitive topic between the two boys and Peter didn’t quite know how to fix it. So instead he avoided it and didn’t mention the internship at all, knowing that it would come back to bite him in the ass. So instead he told them about his patrol had gone the previous night.

“How did yesterday go? Hanging out with Carter and his friends?” MJ asked him while drawing in the sketchbook she had taken out of her bag at some point in their conversation. 

“It was just with Carter remember?” Peter said starting to feel a bit nervous, “And it was really fun.” Peter proceeded to tell his friends about this day with Carter leaving out the fact they had kissed and anything that would make them suspicious.

“Awe, I thought we were going to go see that Star Wars movie together,” Ned said pouting.

“Just get someone to take you out on a date to see it like Peter did loser,” MJ told the pouting boy, “you two losers don’t always have to be attached at the hip.”

“It wasn’t a date they were hanging out, don’t tease him. And I don’t have anyone else to hang out with. You don’t want go see the new one in theatres. Guess I’ll have to see if my dad wants to go, unless Peter wants to see it a second time,” Ned said turning to see what his friend would say. But Peter was trying to work up the courage to make use of the opportunity that was presented to him. He should do it right?

 _Just tell them, it won’t change anything. Right?_ The nervous boy thought to himself.

Franklin got up from MJ’s side and plopped onto Peter’s lap once more. He habitually started to pet her, which caused the cat to start purring. It helped Peter calm down a little, but his words

“Peter?” Ned asked.

“He probably doesn’t want to go see it again and doesn’t want to upset you and is too nice to say so,” MJ said.

“We usually see them multiple times though,” Ned counterargued. Ned and MJ continued to bicker accustomed to Peter being in his own universe. Usually they would just let him come back to reality on his own.

“It was,” Peter found himself blurting out.

“See he agrees, painful,” MJ said.

“Peter, do you really or are you just agreeing with her?” Ned said.

“What are you guys even talking about?” Peter asked having lost track of the conversation.

“What are you talking about?” MJ asked.

“you said yesterday was a date, and Ned said not to tease me. But it was,” Peter said looking down at his cat, “It was a date.” The room was filled with silence as Ned and MJ didn’t know how to respond, surprised at what their friend had said. However, the remaining silence caused Peter to start rambling.

“I didn’t know it was a date at first. I mean, I wanted it to be, but he didn’t say it was and I didn’t want to overthink it. But he kissed me and then I kissed him back so then we decided it was a date. It was a date,” He said getting more and more nervous, refusing to look at his friends.

“You should have told me so that I could have helped dress you,” MJ said while giving Peter a side hug, resting her head on his shoulder.

“I’m not a toddler, I can dress myself,” Peter replied smiling while hugging MJ back. Resting his head on top of hers.

“Well sometimes you dress like a toddler,” Ned teased.

“No I don’t!” Peter said trying to kick his friend from his spot on the bed but not quite reaching the desk chair Ned was sitting on. Ned only chuckled at his friend’s failed attempt.

“Kissing huh, didn’t think you were the PDA type,” MJ continued teasing him.

“It wasn’t PDA we were back here in the apartment,” Peter defending while feeling his cheeks warm up.

“all alone in the apartment. Peter I thought you were a gentlemen,” Ned added on.

“I hate it when you two gang up on me,” Peter said.

“But you’re not denying it,” Ned pointed out.

“We just kissed and then his mom picked him up ok. That’s it,” Peter said. By then his face was in full blush, up to his ears.

“So you like guys then?” MJ asked in seriousness.

“I’m bi,” Peter said forcing himself to look at them straight on. Both his friends hugged him and told him they were proud of him. Peter explained to them that May didn’t know yet, and didn’t want to tell her yet. They both promised not to tell her without hesitation or questions.

“So who was your bi awakening?” MJ asked. Peter didn’t want to tell them because he knew that they would never let it go. MJ threatened to take Franklin hostage and take her home if he didn’t spill. Peter knew that if he really didn’t want to, they wouldn’t force him, but he was so happy with their reaction that he decided to just tell them and suffer the consequences.

“Fine!” Peter yelled, “I’ll tell you. Just promise me you won’t use it against me.”

“Oh it must be good,” MJ said.

“Was it Flash?” Ned asked with a hint of horror on his face.

“NO! Why would you say that?” Peter shrieked.

“Come one just say it,” MJ pushed. Peter put a pillow to his face and took a deep breath. After putting the pillow back in place he then told them.

“It was Ned,” He said quickly and softly.

“Ned?”

“Me?” his two friends blurted out at the same time.

“Wait when? For how long? Wait do you still like me?” Ned said not believing his friend.

“I hate this,” Peter said hoping that this wouldn’t change his friendship with Ned, “In sixth grade.”

“Wait so when we had that fight?” Ned asked, feeling guilty inside.

“Yeah, I liked you then,” Peter said feeling his blush return, “I stopped liking you shortly after that.”

“Awe Peter, I’m flattered,” Ned said teasing his friend causing Peter to throw a pillow at his face, making them all laugh. Secretly, Ned was flattered. At the time he had been jealous of his friend only to find out that Peter had liked him.

“So are we good then?”, Peter said still doubtful. MJ and Ned nodded their heads.

“Dude, I’m just glad you didn’t think watching the Force Awakens three times was painful,” Ned said

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If there are any triggers I should know please let me know. I am a couple of chapters ahead in writing than what I am posting and I haven't found a need for a trigger warning as of yet, but am noting any place where there might be a potential need for one. I've outlined the story and there should only be a few that I will need to add and will post those at the beginning of the chapter when they are uploaded. Sorry for the late update, I was busy with school work and forgot to do it.


	10. Chapter 10

After MJ and Ned went home, he went over to Santi’s shop as he usually did Sunday nights. He didn’t always get work done when he visits the shop. Usually he just goes to help Santi clean up and talk about their respective weeks. That is what he had done tonight. When he arrived Santi had shown him a piece that he had done that he thought was a masterpiece. Then Peter told him about school and his date with Carter. Santi teased him when Peter had told him that he thought Carter liked MJ. Then he teased him about their kissing in the apartment when they were alone. Peter glared at him without any anger behind it, which Santi just chuckled at. This was probably one of his favorite times of the week.

“It’s not funny! I was such an awkward mess. He probably thinks I’m a loser now,” Peter ranted to his older friend.

“He obviously doesn’t if he kissed you kid. Plus from what you told me he was nervous too,” Santi replied as he cleaned up his station.

“Yeah I guess you’re right,” Peter replied. He offered to help Santi close up the shop but Santi refused the offer. Peter asked him if he was working on any new designs for him.

“I would have thought you wouldn’t want to get anything new for a while,” Santi said to the boy.

“Why not?” Peter asked confused.

“Well because if this thing with this boy becomes a regular things than he might ask questions. I think kids your age should just hold hands and maybe kiss,” Santi explained to the boy. He was a bit protective of Peter, and it only increased further the more he got to know the restless boy. Peter became flustered but was confused as to where Santi was going in their conversation. Santi felt awkward in bringing the topic up with Peter, but Peter was obviously not thinking ahead so someone had to bring it up.

“I don’t know what kids your age get up too these days but when I was around you age, maybe a little older, I know when I was attracted to someone clothes would sometimes come off,” Santiago said awkwardly while scratching the back of his neck, “Carter might start asking question. Why do you always wear long sleeves? Where did you get your tattoos. I’m not tattooing anyone else under 18, I didn’t even know you were under 18 until your aunt chewed me out.”

“Dude! We just went on our first date, and I can just say I got them in New Jersey or something,” Peter said embarrassed.

“Do you honestly think he won’t notice when they start healing,” Santi said giving Peter a look, “It would be safer to just let them heal.”

“Fine,” Peter said not liking the idea. He liked getting his tattoos, he started to feel naked without them.

“Come on kid you know you can come hang out anyways,” Santi said thinking that is what Peter was bummed about.

“I know,” Peter replied.

“Come on, I’m done cleaning up. Let’s work on that Spanish homework,” Santi said trying to change the topic. Peter quickly got out his homework to work on it with Santiago. Did he really need help, no not really. But it was always best to learn from a native speaker, especially to get the accent right. While they worked on his homework, Peter told Santi about his internship and how Tony Stark had found him. Santi had given him a light smack on the backside of his head for hacking. Then another one when he found out Tony knew about Spiderman when trying to find out who had hacked him.

“Ow stop that,” Peter said rubbing the back of his head.

“You know that didn’t hurt you and you could have dodged it if you wanted to,” Santi defended knowing about Peter’s sixth sense, “What were you thinking hacking Tony Stark. Who is a genius himself, has more experience than you, more resources than you, and has an AI more experienced than yours. What if he tells someone”

“He promised he wouldn’t,” Peter argued.

“Dr. Stark seems like a good guy, but you need to be more careful,” Santi tells the boy. They continue talking about the internship and how Tony had offered to help Peter train. Santi was glad that Peter would have someone that could help make him safer during his superhero activities. It was also best for everyone for Peter to have something to keep his big brain occupied so an internship with SI was perfect. Peter then expressed how nervous he was about the internship, how he was afraid that he wouldn’t be able to keep up with Tony Stark. Santiago knew that Peter was smart enough to keep up with anybody. In the short amount of time he had known Peter he had come to know this. He had even improved his tattoo gun one night when he was bored. Dr. Stark might have more experience, but Peter could keep up with his explanations and ask questions to start learning from him. It was an amazing opportunity for Peter. If anyone can understand how his brain works and the frustrations that came with it, it would be Tony Stark.

“You’ll do great kid, just take advantage of the opportunity but don’t let him push you around,” Santi said to the boy.

* * * *

Peter was outside Stark towers, playing with his hands nervously as he looked into the building. It was his first day at the internship and even though Santi has reassured him that everything would be fine, he still had his doubts. The last thing he wanted was for to mess something up and have Mr. Stark regret taking him in for the position. He walked into the building and straight to the reception desk where he was told his badge would be ready for him. The woman working was kind and didn’t question on the validity of him being there. When Peter gave her his name she quickly gave him his badge and told him which elevator to use and what floor to go to. Peter could tell that she was curious as to why a 15 year old had access to the penthouse but was thankful that she didn’t ask him anything about it. Mr. Stark was waiting for him sitting on the couch in casual clothes while looking at something on his phone. When Peter stepped through the elevator he looked up and smiled at the obviously nervous boy.

The first hour was spent on giving Peter a tour of the tower, introducing him to some of the head researchers he might be working with, as well as other interns. He was shown state of the art labs, learned about the steps towards bringing a project to life from brainstorming to production, and that anyone can submit a project proposal. He toured the cafeteria, sleep rooms, and play rooms in the tower. These areas were meant to help destress employees and keep them motivated. Especially the employees and interns who practically lived in the tower. Most of the employees and interns were surprised to see Mr. Stark in the labs and were even more surprised to see that he was giving a tour to his 15 year old intern. Mr. Stark usually interacted with the head researchers of the labs or the heads of a project. The environment in Stark Industries was a place for healthy competition, and discouraging others or looking down on colleagues was not tolerated. Which is why nobody cared how old Peter was, they were more interested in his ability to help move their projects forward.

The final stop of the tour was Mr. Stark’s private lab. Mr. Stark explained the rules and protocols to the lab. Peter wasn’t allowed in the lab without Mr. Stark. If he wanted to work when Mr. Stark wasn’t available then he would have to go to one of the intern lab spaces that was reserved for him. Mr. Stark also reminded the teenager of the NDAs that he and his aunt signed beforehand. Once Peter got set up in the space that was designated for him in the lab they got right to work.

“Now that all the boring stuff is out of the way let’s have some fun,” Mr. Stark said as he pulled up what looked to be draft for a Spiderman suit, “Your first project as an intern.”

“Oh my gosh Mr. Stark it looks amazing. And the filtered lenses and controlled noise cancellation to help with my senses. I usually rely on my hearing to find people that need help but too much noise can’t get in the way. Controlling the input is perfect!” Peter rambled excitedly.

“The plan is to use moisture wicking antimicrobial polyester but I don’t know if that would get in the way of the sticky hands thing you’ve got going on” Mr. Stark said.

“I stick because of static forces so as long the material isn’t too thick and the static force can go through then it will still work,” Peter said bouncing off of Mr. Stark’s thoughts with facility.

“I see, how do you create the static force to stick?” Mr. Stark asked as he moved the suit plans to project as a holograph.

“I would guess that like a spider I have setae and setules that exchange electrons with surfaces. I’m curious to see if there are any material surfaces that I can’t stick to. Probably something with electron rigidity. I haven’t really looked into it,” Peter answered as he analyzed the different details of the suit. It looked like Mr. Stark had thought of everything, Peter might even say that he went a bit overboard. Not that he minded.

“I don’t think there is a material that has enough to a point that it would cause a problem. Have you seen the webs? I didn’t know what formula you used and chemistry isn’t my area of expertise, but a little tinkering and I got something that seemed to be similar,” Tony pointed out as he brought up the formula.

“It’s close but the formula I use has more tensile strength. Is it okay if I adjust it?,” Peter asked reluctantly. When he looked over at Mr. Stark he found that the man wasn’t affronted at the suggested change like Peter though he would be, instead the man was smiling wide.

“Of course you can adjust it. Show me your formula, I’m curious to see it,” Mr. Stark said as he handed Peter a StarkPad, “That is yours by the way, for all things internship related.” Peter quickly wrote down the formula and explained any question that Mr. Stark had. They continued working together on the suit. Mr. Stark had most of the coding done, but Peter had once again asked to make some adjustments to what he preferred working with. Once again he found that Mr. Stark welcomed the new ideas. Peter wasn’t use to people welcoming his suggestions, especially those who older than him. Normally they brush him off as some kid who was too arrogant. Mr. Stark also readily accepted Peter’s refusal to show Karen’s code. Peter had quickly tried to explain why he wasn’t comfortable with the idea but Mr. Stark had quickly explained to him that he understood and wasn’t offended.

They continued to work for two hours until Peter had to go home. They worked in sync following each other’s line of thought. When Peter had asked for further explanation Mr. Stark explained without a hint of frustration. By the time Peter left they had finished the suit since Mr. Stark had basically finished it and there were only a few changes made by Peter. Then Mr. Stark had given him forms to fill out at home so that he could patent his web fluid formula. Though Peter was still thinking about it since he didn’t want anyone to make the correlation between him and Spiderman. He left with some homework Mr. Stark wanted him to do by the time he was to return so that they could start some projects for SI. Peter found himself smiling as he unlocked the door to his apartment.

* * * *

Tony had never instantly been in sync with someone as he had been while working with Peter. It had even taken Rhodey a long time until he understood his train of thoughts and how his brain worked. The kid had kept up with him so easily, only stopping to ask questions in things he lacked experience and knowledge in. After answering his question and explaining further the boy easily soaked it in like a sponge and they continued to work. Tony never judged or looked down on anyone that couldn’t keep up with him or weren’t as smart as he was, but working with them after a while got a bit exhausting. He couldn’t wait to unleash the bright eyed curly haired boy onto the R&D department.

“I know that glint in your eye Tones. What are you planning?” Rhodey asked as he entered the penthouse with Pepper.

“Just thinking about how SI will be in chaos when I unleash my little protégé,” Tony answered with a mischievous look.

“Tony you can’t torture your employees, it’s bad for your turnover rate,” Rhodey said.

“Is this about your intern? I keep getting asked when he might start working down in the labs.” Pepper added on.

“I think I’m going to hog him for a while,” Tony said as he made himself a cup of coffee. Before either of them could say anything they get interrupted by Friday.

“Boss, you have a visitor.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More Peter and Tony interactions but I've found that Tony Stark is hard to write. Sorry for being late, again.


	11. Chapter 11

Bruce hadn’t been to the compound in years, hell he hadn’t been anywhere where they spoke English in years. A UN aid worker had recognized him and asked him his opinion over the civil war. Bruce had no idea what the man had been talking about and when he told him as much the man proceeded to explain everything to him. At first he had decided that it wasn’t his business any longer and continued his work. But it remained a seed in the back of his mind that quickly grew until he couldn’t ignore it anymore. He had packed what little belonging he owned and scraped enough money to travel to New York.

Now there he was standing in the private entrance of the Avengers Tower, which was apparently changed back to Stark Tower. He also found that he no longer had access to any part of said tower. Luckily Tony’s new AI had told him to wait while she let someone know about his presence. He was nervous as to what type of reception he was going to receive and who was going to come down to greet him. He hadn’t exactly left on the best terms and he knew he had left Tony to clean up the mess after Ultron. He had no idea what kind of environment he was walking into.

“Dr. Banner long time no see, to what do we owe the pleasure?” Colonel Rhodes said as he approached him. Bruce noticed the leg braces that the man wore and once again speculated about what happened during his time away. The Colonel didn’t seem hostile towards him, but he also wasn’t warm as Bruce knew he could be.

“Hello Colonel Rhodes, I was looking for Tony. I recently became aware of what has happened with the Avengers and wanted ask him for the whole story,” Bruce explained to the man.

“Tony is currently busy with SI business. Any and all inquiries about the Avengers are made at the compound with an appointment. As a former Avenger yourself you can contact Director Hill about your return if that is what you want,” Rhodes said in a professional manner.

“Oh, well I thought Tony was in charge of the compound and I would prefer talking with him if possible,” Bruce said cautiously, though slightly irritated.

“Tony owns the building and leases it out, but doesn’t manage the property. If you would like to speak with Tony then you have to make an appointment with him or call him on his personal phone number,” Rhodey said with the same detached tone. Bruce was getting tired of the conversation.

“Come on Rhodes, I’m not some random guy being nosey. I’m Tony’s friend,” He said exasperated.

“Are you?,” the Colonel replied letting some of his anger show, “Because a friend wouldn’t abandon their friend to deal with the fall out of Ultron on their own. They wouldn’t let their friend take all the blame when it wasn’t theirs. They wouldn’t have left without an explanation, without a goodbye. So is he really your friend?”

 _Banner bad friend_ the Other Guy lets Bruce know.

“I know I’m bad friend okay? But I saw the news of what happened and I just want to know what happened. I also saw the Ross is in prison and want to know more.”

“Then go to the public library and search it,” Rhodes replied to him. Before Bruce could continue arguing with the Colonel, he saw Tony stepping out of the elevator and into the lobby. He looked different than the last time Tony had seen him. He looked lighter, as if there wasn’t as much weighing on his shoulders. But at the same time you can see where stress took a toll on his body, while still looking healthier than Banner had ever seen him. It was a strange juxtaposition to see but somehow fit into Tony’s charm.

“Brucie Bear! Sorry I didn’t come down sooner I had to rap something up in the lab. Platypus here was supposed to be nice and bring you up, but apparently he has his protective best friend thing going on instead,” Tony greeted him while the Colonel glared at him, “Let’s go up and talk in the communal area shall we?”

They had been in the common area that the Avengers had often used before moving to the compound. Tony told Bruce everything about the Accords and what had happened in Germany, having to work with Ross until he found a way to get him out of the way. With the help of Rhodey he was told everything that had happened from the time he left to his return only leaving out Siberia. Bruce was somewhat upset that Tony had worked with Ross while knowing his history with him. But he also understood that he didn’t have much of a choice and that Tony was trying to work with 117 countries. He appreciated the fact that Tony took the time to uncover Ross’s crimes to the public and testify in his trial. However, this was only one side of the story and Bruce liked getting all of the viewpoints before inserting his own. Though he believed that he would have retired instead of signing anything that Ross was involved in. He told Tony as much, and apologized for not being here for it.

“Don’t worry about it Bruce,” Tony said waving his hand dismissively, “If you need somewhere to stay, the compound has a room for you. Someone is there that can give you a different perspective. But frankly your opinion over the matter doesn't change anything, what was done is done. Time for opinions and viewpoints have come and gone. You're a bit too late”

Bruce was surprised at Tony's last part of the statement. Tony wasn't mad per se, it was an honest statement. The difference being that Tony didn't make such statements in order to spare the feelings of those around him, to lessen their guilt. Although it hurt Bruce to hear it, he knew it was true. He hadn't been here. A part of him was glad to see Tony carry less guilt, guilt that wasn't his to carry.

“Thanks Tony,” Bruce said to his friend while Rhodes continued to give him side eye.

* * * *

“Bruce?” Natasha said surprised to see the man.

“Hello Natasha, it’s been a while,” Bruce said while scratching the back of his neck feeling awkward. They had had a weird flirting thing going on before he left. He hadn’t left in good terms exactly, feelings of hurt and betrayal were rampant at the time. And although he had gotten over such feelings, he didn’t see Natasha in the same light since then.

“Where have you been? We were worried,” Natasha said as she walked towards him, “We couldn’t track the quinjet in stealth mode.”

“You know me, I was hanging out in a rural area,” Bruce said, “Between you and me, I think Tony was able to track me down.” Natasha smirked and that and snorted lightly, she wouldn’t be surprised if Tony had. They made their way to the kitchen of the east wing of the compound. Maria Hill was the new director of the compound and oversaw a lot of the daily activities within it. The compound had been remodeled since last time Natasha had seen it. The biggest difference being in the residential areas. There were two residential sections of the compound, east and west. Natasha was currently resided in the east wing and it looked like Bruce would be moving in as well.

“What happened Natasha?” Bruce asked not wanting to beat around the bush.

“The Avengers broke up,” She replied.

“Broke up? Like the beetles?” Bruce asked. He knew what Tony had said but he didn’t think it would be so bad that they couldn’t come back together.

“How’d you get here?” Natasha asked without answering his question, suspicious as to why he suddenly appeared.

“Tony’s driver brought me here. I went to the tower first but I guess it’s Stark tower again? Tony explained the disagreements over the Accords as well as the situation with Sergeant Barnes, but I didn’t think that the it would be something that can’t be resolved.”

“It would have been if certain decisions hadn’t been made,” Natasha explained, “there were too many things at the time that were going on and mistakes were made.”

“Like what?” Bruce doubted. Natasha proceeded to go over the events in detail. Bruce was surprised when she mentioned Siberia since Tony hadn’t brought it up.

“No one really knows what happened there. Ross was on Tony’s neck since he went without approval but no one knew anything about him for months. Some news outlets think that he was severely injured while others think he was avoiding the backlash. Though that doesn’t make sense because Tony never avoids backlash from anyone.”

“Injuries from what?” Bruce asked.

“Don’t really know, I’m assuming there was altercation in Siberia but there is no footage or any information on what happened.” Natasha said sounding as if she was only partly present in the conversation. Her mind was on Tony bringing up the fact that she knew how his parents had died and didn’t tell him, wondering if that had something to do with Siberia. It was the only time he would have found out, unless he discovered something after Siberia. It was a possibility. Bruce was contemplating all the information he had taken in within the last couple of hours. He knew he had to look into it himself, there were still some questions left unanswered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On time today!


	12. Chapter 12

Peter was in his room on a Monday at 7pm at night all alone, well he had Karen. He had finished his homework hours ago and didn’t feel like watching tv. He had his laptop open and earphones plugged in. He was working on the “homework” that Mr. Stark had told him to do before he had to go in the next day. He had already done some of it but he wanted to read over everything again to make sure he was prepared. He didn’t want to waste Mr. Stark’s time. He wanted to look into it further than the files was given and decided that SI probably had more files he could look at. Peter didn’t have unlimited access to Stark Industry files, which made sense. Who would trust confidential research and production to a teenager. But now he was curious about the arc reactor and clean energy so yes, he was going to get into Stark Industry servers.

“Peter I would advise against that course of action, you were caught during the previous attempt,” Karen informed the boy. This made Peter stop and think, he hadn’t thought of that. Could he even bypass Friday so that she couldn’t catch him red handed. That should probably be taken as a sign for Peter not to hack into SI, again. But at this point Peter has moved onto curiosity over the possibility to do so without getting caught. The only reason he got as far as he did previously was because of Mr. Stark’s curiosity. If Mr. Stark had been mad then he would have stopped it then and there. He could use his Stark Pad from his internship, he had a SI login now and wouldn’t have to create a back door from his laptop. If he did it that way then wouldn’t it be cheating? He promised May he wouldn’t use Karen for that sort of thing.

Peter groans in frustration but somehow has a smile on his face. He always liked a good puzzle to solve, especially one he had to think about. Ned didn’t know about his hacking so he couldn’t ask him for any ideas. MJ probably knew somehow but she didn’t know about code, not like Ned and Peter did. The obvious way to do it would be to meddle with Friday’s code but Peter wasn’t willing to do that. The opposite of that would be to hide in plain site, which could work.

Peter quickly set to work and connected his laptop to his Stark Pad. It took him about a little longer than it normally would. Once he was in he immediately went looking for more information on related projects as the one he would be working on with Mr. Stark. He looked at the last update for both the Stark phone and tablet, downloading the files. He unintentionally came across the file for the giant arch reactor in the California building. After skimming through it he found that it incredibly interesting and downloaded it as well. He then retraced his way out, made sure all tracks were covered, and closed the system. It wasn’t as hard as he thought it would be.

* * * *

The next had been a very good day for Peter. Flash had tried to bother him before school while he was at his locker but Carter and Ned both told him to bug off. Flash hadn’t expected for Carter to come to his defense and had quickly gone with his friends. He was happy that Carter and his friends got a long really well. He went through his day without spacing out, a rare occurrence, and had aced his Spanish quiz. At lunch Carter had sat with them and questioned the amount of food Peter was eating.

“He has a fast metabolism so he always has to be eating or else he gets hungry,” Ned explained truthfully without hesitation. Peter gave him a grateful look, knowing he would have stumbled over a response.

“Usually only hard core athletes need to do that. You work out Parker?” Carter asked with his eyebrows raised while wearing a smirk.

“Oh he definitely works out,” Ned said before Peter could get a word out. Peter just glared at his friend.

“You have a crush on Peter, Ned?” Carter asked without a hint of jealousy in his voice.

 _Please don’t say anything, please don’t say anything_ Peter chanted in his head while looking at Ned pleadingly.

“Nah, just seen him in his boxers,” Ned replied with a smile as he saw his friend’s face grow more red.

“That’s because you don’t know how to knock!,” Peter argued but Ned just snickered. Carter and MJ were smirking as well seeing Peter getting embarrassed.

“With your loose long sleeve shirts I wouldn’t have known. Good to know,” Carter continued his teasing.

“Can we please change the topic to something other than me,” Peter requested from his mischievous friends. At least MJ hadn’t contributed beyond her smirks, MJ was his new favorite. But Carter chose that moment to let them know he had to go. He asked Peter if he was completely out or if acting like a couple at school was a no go. Peter thought it was really sweet that Carter checked with him. Peter explained that he only really had three people that mattered enough to come out too, and had already done it with two of them. He let Carter know that he just needed to tell his aunt, but was going to do that soon anyways. When Ned and MJ realized that they were the two out of three people that mattered they cooed at him making Peter blush. 

“You’re cute,” Carter said to Peter and he had started to gather his things, “I have to go. I promised my friends I wouldn’t ditch them just because I started going out with you.”

“Ugh those kinds of people are the worst,” MJ agreed.

“Exactly, so I’m going to go hang out with them for the rest of lunch. Come find me later,” Carter said giving Peter a quick kiss after he agreed that he would and walked towards his friends.

“You guys are disgustingly cute,” Ned said. MJ nodded in agreement and went back to reading her book. MJ wasn’t one to get jealous, and was happy for her best friend. Was she a bit sad, yes. But she couldn’t control that, and it didn’t mean she couldn’t be supportive. It had been the same with Liz and she had easily gotten over it then, and will again this time around.

Peter’s upbeat mood continued on until the end of the school day. He finds Carter by his locker along with MJ and Ned. They bicker over who something that Peter doesn’t pay attention to as he is focused on grabbing what he needs from his locker and leaving what he doesn’t. Soon they’re walking to Peter’s apartment to practice presenting their projects before they are due the next day. Mr. Stark had texted Peter to tell him that something had come up that morning and for him not to go in. Peter had been a little disappointed at the message but quickly shrugged it off. He hadn’t felt this happy in a long time and he wasn’t going to ruin it now. Instead he was going to hang out with his friends and Carter, and after spend time with May. It had been a while since they last spent quality time together. The small group walked through the door in midst of a conversation, but froze when they saw who was in the living room.

Mr. Stark was sat in there talking with Peter’s aunt while petting Franklin, who was laid on his lap. When they saw the group May’s expression turned agitated and her eyes told Peter that he was in for a very long lecture. Mr. Stark still held a neutral expression but had his eyebrows raised.

“Peter why is Mr. Stark in your living room?” Ned asked wide eyed and short of freaking out. Instead of answering Ned’s question Peter addressed the elephant in the room.

“Hey Mr. Stark, I thought something had come up,” Peter said, his hands fidgeting.

“Well you know Friday noticed that that an intern had the same security access as me and that it wasn’t approved by anyone, which raised some red flags. Sat in a meeting that involved getting yelled at by my CEO for giving that much access to my intern without telling anyone. Who would an intern the same access as the owner of the company? Imagine my surprise since I didn’t know anything about it. Care to explain Peter?” Mr. Stark said.

“Shit,” Peter replied, getting more agitated. _I messed up, I really messed up_ the boy thought to himself.

“Peter Benjamin Parker,” May scolded.

“Shoot, I meant shoot,” Peter said, “I thought I covered everything.” During this whole encounter Ned continued to be wide eyed as he stared at Tony Stark standing in front of him. MJ was looking between Peter and Mr. Stark and trying to connect the dots. And Carter, poor Carter was confused as to what was going on.

“Explain Parker,” Mr. Stark ordered after hearing Peter’s last remark.

“Okay well last night I was kind of bored,” Peter started to explain to which three of the five other people in the room groaned at, “and I was reading what you told me to. But I was curious as to how the previous updates were done but I didn’t have access to those files. So I decided to get the access? But I was warned that it might not be a good idea because I could get caught by Friday again. But then I wanted to see if I could get past her. So I tried. I guess it didn’t work”

“Almost, but no it didn’t. Getting that level of access without Pepper’s or my approval raises a red flag for Friday to check. Because technically it is impossible to get such access without it”

“Wait you’re an intern at Stark Industries?” Ned asked, finally coming out of his internal fanboying.

“I think you guys should head home,” May said leaving little room for argument but hadn’t said it unkindly.

“We have to work on a project!” Peter defended.

“We’ll just skype or something. Seems like you have to deal with this first,” MJ cut in, ever the logical one. After May had walked them out, she came back and told him to sit.

“You intern with Mr. Stark for a day and you go and hack him? Again!” May scolded the curly haired boy while she rubbed her temple.

“I thought I covered everything. I should have changed my access back or been more careful, but I was really interested in what I found,” Peter said playing with his hands.

“Not getting caught doesn’t equal to it being right Peter!” May continued scolding the boy.

“I know that ok?”

“Then why did you do it?”

“I don’t know!” Peter said frustrated at himself, “I was just curious and bored, I didn’t really have anything to do. I know it isn’t okay, I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking”

“You weren’t thinking?” Maybe said in disbelief.

“Hi, sorry, can I butt in?” Mr. Stark said trying to sound flippant to deescalate the situation. The last thing he wanted was the end up in the middle of a fight between his intern and his aunt.

“Go ahead, you are the one he hacked,” May said gesturing for him to go ahead. Mr. Stark moves to sit on the arm of the chair next to Peter so that they are facing each other.

“Look kid, I get it,” Mr. Stark started, not going in the direction May thought it would, “You already did the calculations or coding in your head and you just wanted to know if it would actually work. Especially since you’re young and don’t have the experience to know whether or not it would. I’ve been there kid. You think that because you won’t get caught then it isn’t a big deal.” Peter shrugs and pets Franklin who had made her way onto Peters lap while he was getting lectured, not caring about any of the drama going on.

“But you’ve got to stop and think before you act,” Mr. Stark continued but Peter looked up at him and made a face.

“I mean stop to think about what you’re doing instead of just thinking about how to do it. Don’t look at me like that,” Mr. Stark said with a small smile, “look, I had issues with that as well. Hell, I still do. You get so engrossed in figuring something out, if something is possible, that you don’t ever think of the consequences. It something I had a hard time learning.”

“So you’re not mad?” Peter said hopefully.

“Oh I am definitely upset. Do you know how scary Ms. Potts is when she is mad. Not a fun time,” He replied to the boy, “Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. Treat people how you want to be treat and all that. By the way the medical adhesive thing you’ve been playing around with from modifying your web fluid formula is a fantastic idea. Genius work, really” Stark projected a file from his phone. The idea behind the adhesive would potentially replace the need for sutures and only a thin layer would be enough to hold an incision together. The problem Peter was having was that his webs would disintegrate after a few hours and the medical adhesive would need to withstand longer. He also didn’t know how biocompatible it would be with the human body. He had come up with the idea when he had gotten hurt and had webbed the wound while he found his way towards Santi.

“Hey! Did you get into my system? Dude not cool,” Peter said becoming irritated.

“Have to say, I didn’t have the easiest time getting into your laptop. But when I decided to explain to Karen what I was trying to do, she agreed to help. Have to say kid, I’m impressed,” Tony told the hazel eyed boy as he smiled his genuine smile. Not his usual camera ready smile, “Doesn’t feel good does it?”

“I need to have a talk with Karen,” was the only thing Peter said, “So what’s my punishment?”

“Well that is for Mrs. Parker to decide since fortunately, I’m not your parent,” Mr. Stark said.

“two weeks without the internship,” May said.

“That’s punishment for me too, not fair,” Mr. Stark complained childishly.

“I guess we can’t have that,” May said with a smile, “two weeks no patrols.”

“Wait what, no!” Peter argue, “people need me.”

“If Mr. Stark had pressed charges you would have gone to juvie and you wouldn’t have been able to patrol then either. You want to risk having criminal charges then face the consequences. And it isn’t your sole responsibility to help with crime.”

“Fine, can I go to my room now. I have a project to work on,” Peter requested. May nodded at the boy.

“Come by tomorrow,” Tony said knowing that Peter had heard him even though he had already closed the door.

“You’re really good with him,” May pointed out, “I just get frustrated with him because I don’t understand how he can’t stop for two seconds and just realize that maybe certain things aren’t a good idea. But you understand it personally. So thank you, for talking to him instead of just dropping him from the internship.”

“Purely selfish reason I assure you. He’s the only intern I’ve ever liked,” Tony joked, but then said more seriously, “It’s nice to interact with someone who understands me as well.”

* * * *

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Ned blurted out loudly.

“Ned, too loud,” MJ said. They were at lunch the next day, grilling questions on what had happened. So far he had avoided telling them what he had actually done. He was embarrassed about what he did. They had tried asking him about it the previous night during their skype call as they finished up their project. They also made them promise not to tell anyone about his internship at with Mr. Stark. He hadn’t been able to tell them that he knew about Spiderman since Carter didn’t know.

“I’ve only gone in once and I didn’t want to say anything until later,” Peter tried to explain. He himself didn’t quite know why he hadn’t said anything about the internship.

“Maybe he didn’t want to make a deal out of it. Peter doesn’t seem like someone who likes a lot of attention or questions,” Carter said.

“But we could finally be cool,” Ned said not understanding why his friend wouldn’t brag about his internship. He already didn’t want people to know about Spiderman, or even want to join any sports.

“I don’t care about being cool Ned,” Peter said, “No one would believe it anyways

“Not that you two losers could ever be cool,” MJ added without looking up from her book. Peter just shrugged because he was honest about not needing to be cool. He had gotten over the desire to be popular after the situation with Liz and the homecoming fiasco. He just wanted to get through high school, get to college, and continue being Spiderman. Ned , however, was slightly hurt by the comment, even if her knew that MJ was just joking. Carter snorted, still getting used to the trio’s dynamic.

“You not caring about being cool is what makes you cool,” Carter says quietly to Peter, making him flustered. Carter doesn’t stay for much longer before he goes with his friends. Then Ned started asking a million questions about what had happened. How did he get the internship? Are there more internships for high school students? Did Mr. Stark know about Spiderman? Was Peter an Avenger now? What was it like working with Mr. Stark? Why was May so angry? How long has it been since he first got the internship? Has he met Friday? Are Friday and Karen friends? Can AI be friends? Eventually MJ told Ned to slow down enough for Peter to answer his questions, and Peter did try to answer them. Peter told them everything, including the hacking because there was no point in hiding it. MJ actually looked impressed at Peter’s audacity. Ned was surprised and then lectured him about not using his powers for self-gain, though Peter knew that his friend was impressed and wanted to know how he did it. Ned was just as much of a nerd as he was.

“I’m really disappointed in you Peter, do better,” Ned said in a teasing tone.

“I already got a long lecture about it from May and Mr. Stark. Then he got revenge by hacking me back,” Peter groaned putting his head down in his arms.

“Dude, that is so cool. Mr. Stark hacked your computer. Wait, how? Last time you had me try I couldn’t get past the first firewall,” Ned said excited.

“He said it was harder then he thought but eventually he just asked Karen for access. And she just gave it to him. I had to talk to her about it and put in a protocol,” The boy explained a bit proud. Tony Stark having a hard, or somewhat difficult time, while hacking you was an achievement.

“Did they let it go?” MJ asked.

“No, I’m grounded for two weeks. No patrols,” Peter said still frustrated.

“Makes sense,” MJ said not needing an explanation as to why that was the chosen punishment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love writing banter between the character. This is a very dialogue driven chapter, which I'm not fan of, but I didn't really know how to change that without compromising some of the banter. So I just left it as is.


	13. Chapter 13

“Tony you can’t possibly intend to agree,” Colonel Rhodes said to Tony.

“Agree no, do I intend to get in their way? Also no,” Tony said as they walk out of their meeting with the UN.

“You know have enough influence to stop it,” Rhodes said trying to get his best friend to reconsider.

“I know I could prevent it from happening but I’m not going to. I rather call in favors for something more important,” Tony tried to explain his reasoning.

“They’re a bunch of criminals! Tony, they betrayed you,” Rhodes said.

“I’m not going to stop it because of what they did to me. And if the UN wants to forgive them in exchange for their cooperation then so be it,” Tony said with a finality. He wasn’t happy about the committee wanting to give the Rogues pardons so that they can return and rejoin the Avengers. There reasoning being that they were needed in case of an unexpected extraterrestrial invasion. The committee believed that Ross’s intimidation tactics and inhumane treatment of the Rogues was punishment enough, and justified their hesitance to sign and trust the Accords. While Tony agreed that the Rogues had a right to distrust the Accords and that their treatment was illegal according to the Accords, he still believed that parading through different countries and harming many lives for one man was wrong. It seemed that the affected countries would agree with him, but were willing to forgive as long as the Rogues signed the Accords. They believed that the need for them to ensure earth’s safety would be enough community service to pay for their crimes.

“They have to sign and follow the Accords, the UN fronts the bills, and you are their great leader, nothing to worry about Rhodey Bear,” Tony said, “I just show up to training sessions and missions.”

“If you think it is going to be that easy then you need a reality check,” Rhodey disagreed.

“I’m not saying it’s going to be easy, I’m saying that there are things out there that we don’t know about. The UN’s fear of another invasion isn’t unfounded and we need all the help we can get.”

“Fine, but I’m going full Colonel Rhodes on their asses. I’m pulling rank.,” Rhodey said to his friend.

“You’re the boss Platypus,” Tony said smiling at his friends. He had seen Colonel Rhodes in action a few times, especially when he was unhappy with something. The Rogues were going to be put through the ropes.

“Let’s go tell our resident Kitty King to let them know,” Tony said.

It wasn’t difficult to get in contact with King T’Challa. They had been working together on the Accords for months. They have formed a mutually beneficial working relationship, especially when dealing with the committee. Tony didn’t trust T’Challa, and he certainly didn’t appreciate being left behind in the bunker by the man, nor him helping the stowaways. But having him on his side the past couple of months had been more than helpful.

“Dr. Stark, how can I help you?” T’Challa said cutting to the point. Tony didn’t fault him, the man was busy running a country.

“I know you didn’t make it to the committee meeting this time around and sent someone in your place, but I’m sure you already know about the proposed pardon?” Tony asked.

“Yes, it is quite graceful for the committee to be willing to forgive. I’m sure the former Avengers will be happy when they find out and can come out of their hiding hole,” T’Challa said nonchalant.

“See funny thing, I’m sure you know exactly where they might be. In fact I don’t thinks it’s a hiding hole, more like a hiding palace,” Tony said not wanting to beat around the bush himself, “You did help them in Siberia and now the merry band of misfits are your new sugar babies.”

“Dr. Stark I assure you, there was no ill intent. I only wanted to help Sargent Barnes after wrongly accusing him of my fathers murder. I didn’t mean for it be a package deal, but thought it would be better for us to know where they are instead of potentially causing more trouble,” T’Challa tried to justify, quickly recovering from the shock of being found out.

“Yes well you’ll have to forgive me if I’m upset that I was left behind for dead. Nice touch your majesty,” Tony said sarcastically, “I didn’t bring this up to question your decisions. I brought it up because when they are offered the pardons ,you are going to have to find an excuse as to why they are in your country and why you hadn’t said anything before.” T’Challa was disappointed in hearing that they might have left a man behind who was gravely injured. He was assured that the man was okay and would be able to get home safely without help.

“I apologize of my role, I was under the assumption that you were fine. I appreciate your advice and will get to work,” he said.

“I just ask that you consider informing them what exactly they would be agreeing to if they accept the pardons,” Tony said. T’Challa agreed provide someone to help the rogues go through the terms and conditions of the pardon. They briefly spoke about what T’Challa had missed during the committee meeting before they parted ways. T’Challa decided he needed to have a conversation with his honorary guests.

* * * *

Something was off with his intern and if he didn’t stop fidgeting Tony was going to go crazy. They had been working on the latest update to the StarkPad for the past hour and Peter had been withdrawn for most of it. He was working on the coding that Tony had set him to do but he wasn’t bouncing with enthusiasm like he was last time. Tony didn’t mention anything because he still didn’t know the kid well and he definitely didn’t want to intrude in his life. That and emotions gave him hives. The last thing he needed was an angsty teen unloading all his angsty teenage emotions in his lab. Once Peter was done with his side of things he showed Tony and they made some adjustments together. Tony then had him work on some of the hardware with him. When giving explanation to the boy or when answering his questions, Peter kept bouncing his knee or playing with his hands. Somethings was clearly on the boy’s mind and Tony had had enough.

“Alright kid, spill,” Tony said. The kid in question just looked at him confused.

“You can’t sit still for more than two seconds and you’re unusually quiet. So spill,” Tony demanded. Peter’s eyes became wide and started to play with his hands again.

“I just wanted to apologize but I didn’t know how to bring it up,” his protégé told him.

“apologize for what?” Tony said.

“Um for getting into things I wasn’t supposed to, getting you into trouble, changing my access, hacking your company. I shouldn’t have done that, it was wrong, and I’m sorry,” Peter said looking at the man.

“You’ve already apologized for that, and it was a long time ago,” Tony pointed out. In reality it had only been two weeks ago but he didn’t want Peter to stress out about it.

“Yeah but at the time I was more frustrated at the fact that I got caught by Friday again. Then I was embarrassed that I had even done it and I don’t want you to think bad of me. But I am really, really sorry Mr. Stark,” Peter insisted.

“All is forgiven don’t worry about it. Just don’t do it again,” Tony said. The boy quickly nodded. They continued to work in semi awkward silence for a few minutes before Tony decided he hated it. His lab was supposed to be his safe space where he could get away to think. Not have awkward silence with his intern. So he made small talk with the boy while they worked to try and get him to talk. They talked about school, how he came up with the idea of the web fluid, his favorite movies, among other things. Slowly the awkwardness went away and Peter unfurled his wound up nerves. Soon they were working as well as they had previously, but Tony found that he didn’t mind making conversation with Peter.

Somehow they got onto the topic of Peter’s long list of times he has gotten into trouble for not thinking ahead of his actions. He told Tony about the time he had built a robot that ran around a bit people ankles in robotics instead of working on learning a programming language he already knew. Then there was the time he had hacked into the schools morning news to play Friday by Rebecca Black on the last day of school last year. They hadn't even been able to know for sure who had done it, it was just a rumor that it had been Peter. Without any evidence they couldn't do anything but all his aunt and tell her about their suspicions and to talk to him about his actions. There was also the time where he got into his Aunt’s phone and changed all her contacts to be star wars characters when she wasn’t looking, she had at least laughed that time.

“Tell me about the ones no one knows about,” Tony said.

“Like what?” Peter asked. But Tony knew better. He was remembered what he was like when he was Peter’s age. He was way worse that Peter’s little mischievous pranks, especially since he was in college when he was 14.

“Oh don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about. Do your friends know about you leaving the FBI a bread crumb trail to the alien weapon ring?” Tony asked with a knowing smirk.

“No, of course not. Ned got nervous when I asked him to try to hack into my computer, imagine if he knew. I think MJ probably wouldn’t really care, but she would give me a disapproving look or something,” Peter explained, “plus, that was the only time I’ve ever done something like that.”

“uh huh,” Tony said doubtful, “you’re better than I was. I remember hacking into the pentagon when I was at MIT because Rhodey bet me that I couldn’t. He had to buy me lunch. Then there was the time that I caused an explosion in one of the labs with him, I had to buy him lunch for that one.” Tony continued to tell him about his adventures in college and all the trouble he caused. How Rhodey always said he would get premature grey hair because of him, but have of their misdeeds had from his ideas. He left out his more controversial activities of course, the ones that were Rhodey disapproved. Peter would then ask him questions about his time at MIT, and he would answer them all.

“Why aren’t you in college yet? I read your school file, they’ve suggested it for years now,” Tony pointed out.

“I don’t want to be some 15 year old with everyone else being years older. I think I would be lonely,” Peter explained, “plus, it’s expensive” He muttered that last part under his breath so Tony wouldn’t be able to hear.

“Makes sense, besides Rhodey, I didn’t make any close friends while I was there,” Tony explained, “Maybe you could meet your own Rhodey if you do?”

“I already have my own Rhodey Mr. Stark, I have two of them. Except that their names are Ned and MJ,” Peter said with a small eye roll, “I don’t want to leave them behind. Though sometimes I do think about it. Then I wouldn’t have to deal with the bullying, or the teachers getting mad at me, or being bored every day.” Tony made a note about the bullying but didn’t say anything about it.

“yeah I heard those groans when you mentioned boredom the other day. You get into a lot of trouble for it don’t you?” He asked.

“Yeah, I don’t mean to though,” The boy in front of him said, as he continued working, “sometimes I wish it would stop. But I get restless and can’t concentrate on anything for long. People around me don’t understand when I say that my brain is going too fast for me to be able to focus on something, especially when I’m bored. They think that it’s an excuse or something. But it’s because I can’t control it.”

“It gets better when you’re older, college helps too,” Tony tells the boy, knowing exactly how it feels, “I used to drive my parents insane with my antics. Only Jarvis had the patients when it came to those things.” They continued working for a little while longer until it was time for Peter to head home. After he gathered his belongings and said his goodbye to Tony did an idea occur to the man.

“Why don’t you come by whenever you start getting bored? I mean as long as you’re not in school and your aunt is okay and what not,” The genius offered.

“Really?” Peter asked, eyes wide.

“Sure, why not? I'm sure my lab has things to keep you entertained” Tony said before adding, “within a reasonable hour please. I don’t need Pepper getting mad for have an intern in my lab late at night.”

“Thank you Mr. Stark! Thank you. I’ll let my aunt May know,” the boy said with a big smile as he practically skipped on his way out. Tony chuckled at the boy and went back to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are starting to pick up. Finally!


	14. Chapter 14

Steve liked Wakanda, and he was incredibly thankful for their hospitality, but he missed his home. He just didn’t know if he still had one. Steve didn’t regret what he did, maybe how he did it. If he was being honest, he would do it all over again. He would do anything for Bucky. Bucky was all he had, the only thing left from before. How could he have not gone after him, how could he have left him to defend himself without any allies. Everyone thought he was the one behind the bombing at the UN. Maybe things could have happened differently, but he couldn’t get stuck in the what ifs. There was no changing what did happen. All he could do was move forward, help Bucky, and find a way to get back home. He was hoping that was the reason that King T’Challa had requested a meeting with them. They were sitting in what looked to be similar to a conference room. Steve sat at one end of the oval table farthest from the door with Bucky, Sam, and Scott sitting to his right. Clint and Wanda sat to his left. T’Challa sat across from Steve with two men sitting on both sides of him and his warrior guards standing close.

“I’ve requested your presence to inform you all, of the pardons that have been approved as of today for your return to your home,” the king told them, but before they could get too excited added, “however it comes with certain conditions.” T’Challa spent the next half hour explaining to them what said conditions were. The two base options were either retire or rejoin the Avengers. If they chose to rejoin the Avengers then things became more complicated. They would have to pass psychological assessments, accept that they might not always work together as there have been a few additions, know that the Avengers were currently co-led by Tony and Colonel Rhodes. There would also be individual training that each rogue might have to do in order to rejoin, depending on what the leads thought they required. Team members could either live in the compound paid for by the UN budget, or live on their own and out of their own pocket. Though the UN believed that for the first six months they should remain the compound until they passed all requirements to return. Finally, they would have to sign the current accords.

Steve didn’t agree with some of the condition to become a part of the team they had already been on. They had already had psychological assessments by Shield when they were first assembled, he liked working with his current team, and he didn’t know how he felt about Tony being co-leader. He was fine with the individual training, as each member always had something to improve on. But the one things he couldn’t quite get behind was having to sign the accords. He didn’t agree with them before, and he didn’t agree with them now.

“Stark is really co-leader? Whose great ideas was that? Also how is Rhodes still War Machine?” Clint said resentfully. No one answered his questions, they were used to his cruel sarcasm and jibes towards Tony. T’Challa chose to ignore the comment because he was not there to give information beyond what was needed and he found the man’s remarks childish.

“What if we don’t sign the accords?” Steve asked.

“Then the assumption is you will retire and if you are seen out of retirement without signing the accords then you will be back to being recognized as criminals,” T’Challa answered.

“And if we sign the accords but don’t rejoin the avenger?” Sam asked, skeptical about the conditions to their pardons.

“Usually those who don’t wish to join the avengers can sign the accords and work independently or with a different organization approved by the UN. However, due to your circumstances you will have to join the avengers for a select period of time before you will be allowed to make the same decision,” T’Challa explained patiently.

“Can we really trust Stark though?” Scott pointed out.

Steve didn't disagree with what Scott implied, and he could see that his teammates did as well, but said, “look we’re going to have to find a way to work together again if we want this to work out. I’m not too happy about having to sign the accords but I’m willing to do it if it means we can go home.”

“Or we can retire,” Clint pointed out.

“A piece of advice?” T’Challa cut in, “Make sure you understand what it is you are signing before you do so. We have worked hard on these accords and are quite different than the ones my father worked on. These men will can answer all the question you might.” T’Challa pointed to men that were sitting next to him. T’Challa then explained he had another meeting to attend and left. The men gave each of them a copy of the accords and spent the next few hours going through the accords with them before letting them go. Clint had tried saying he was retired but one of them said that they were required to go through them anyways in case they decided to come out of retirement while giving him a knowing look. Steve was surprised to see that the things a lot of the things he was against had been amended into something he could back. T’Challa wasn’t lying when he said that the document was very different than it had once been.

“Who was involved in all these changes?” Steve asked the two men.

“Dr. Stark spent several months working with the committee as well as enhanced individuals to get the document to where it is today,” one of them replied, and quickly moved on to the next section.

Later when the group was back in their section of the palace they gathered to go over whether or not they would sign the documents. Steve and Sam were the only ones that had read the original documents.

“How different is it from the first?” Bucky asked him.

“The base of it is pretty much the same, but specific articles and protocols is where it is different. But even we didn’t exactly go through the first one like we just did for this one,” Sam answered him.

“So are we signing? I mean I don’t see anything bad with it?” Scott said like an excited golden retriever, excited about the thought of being able to go home to his daughter.

“The first version wasn't abominable if we’re being honest. Just some things we didn’t agree with that have been wiped from this version. We just didn't agree with having he accords to begin with, the safest hands are our own,” Steve said.

“Then why did it go to the point that it did?” Scott asked again. He hadn’t told the others, but sometimes he regretted his part in the whole thing. Missed his daughter and Hope too much for his action to have been worth it.

“So many things were in play then. We didn’t necessarily have the time to sit down and amend things,” Sam said frustrated.

“We should sign them,” Steve said wanting to redirect their conversation, “I’m still not happy with having to. I still think the best hands are our own, but there isn't any other option. It’s the only way home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a shorter chapter, I might post a second one mid week to make up for it. It depends on how much writing I have done by then.


	15. Chapter 15

“Are you sure it’s okay for me to come over?” Carter asked his boyfriend.

“yeah of course, my aunt is working a night shift anyways,” Peter told him as he unlocked his front door. They had been dating for over a month and had spent more and more time together. They had gone out for a couple of dates, had hung out with MJ and Ned a lot too. Though Peter had yet to meet any of Carter’s friends, but was nervous about asking why. They had stayed in the library after school late. Peter was helping Carter study for his math test until the librarian had kicked them out. Peter offered to keep helping him study at his apartment, and had walked there hand in hand. They sat around the coffee table in the living room and worked for an hour or so before Carter asked to take a break. Carter sat on the couch with Peter as they watched a random TV show that was on.

“Thanks for helping me today. My parents have been on me about my grade in math,” Carter said sincerely.

“Your welcome. It’s no problem, I’m willing to help any time,” Peter replied giving Carter a light peck.

“I was kind of embarrassed to ask you,” Carter admitted to the hazel eyed boy.

“What! Why?” Peter asked.

“I didn’t want you to think that I was dumb.”

“I don’t, and you aren’t. You’re really good at things that I could never do,” Peter told him reassuringly.

“You’re a literal genius Peter. At first I thought it was just an exaggeration, like you were just good at studying or something. But you’re literally a genius who is smarter than our teachers. Meanwhile, I’m having trouble with algebra,” Carter said self-depreciating.

“I’m good at STEM subjects that’s true. But that doesn’t mean you’re dumb. You’re amazing at English and writing, you’re an amazing pianist, things that I’m not good at. We’re just good at different things. If you weren’t smart you wouldn’t be going to Midtown. And even if you weren’t, that doesn’t make you any less.” Peter said to the boy sitting next to him, grabbing his hand. Carter looked at Peter with a small smile, his eyes alternating between looking at his eyes to his lips. Peter noticed and leaned in to kiss him. As they gained confidence Carter swept his tongue into Peter’s mouth. Peter, having very little experience, was surprised by the action but found a noise coming from his throat from the action. Peter hesitantly tried to do the same and gained courage as a small groan came from Carter. Peter leaned in closer while holding the back of Carter’s head. Peter didn’t realize when their positions had changed so that Carter was laying down on the couch with Peter on top of him, both legs on either side of him. His hands on both sides of Carters head and they kissed, with Carter’s hands running through the hair on the back of his head. Carter traced his hands down along Peter’s back and then up under his shirt. He then traces them back down his back and towards Peter’s abdomen and up once more. Once again Peter let out a small moan as goosebumps arose on his skin.

“You really do work out,” Carter said smiling.

“Did you think I was lying?” Peter asked taking the opportunity to catch his breath.

“No, but I didn’t expect this,” Carter replied as he traced his hands over Peter’s abs again, “Can I see?” Peter leaned in to kiss him again, about to agree, when the door swung open.

“Peter there was a scheduling mishap and I have the night free. We can…Oh,” May said as she walked through the door but stopped as she saw Peter fall onto the floor and Carter sit up with the speed of light.

“Hey aunt May, so you aren’t working tonight?” Peter said trying to be nonchalant about what they had been caught doing. He didn’t realize that his hair was a mess, his shirt was crumpled, his lips were slightly swollen, and his face was getting very red. Internally he was close to combusting from embarrassment, and from May finding out before he could tell her. How had he not heard her? This was not how he wanted her to find out. Was she going to be mad that he had someone over? That he didn’t tell her about Carter? Peter was hoping a hole would open up and swallow him so he wouldn’t have to face the situation.

“Hi Mrs. Parker, Peter was helping me study for a math test,” Carter said, but wanted to smack himself afterwards because they had, clearly, not been studying.

“Oh is that what you were doing? I guess the notebooks all over the coffee table can back you up,” May said amused at the expressions on both boys’ faces.

“We took a break,” Peter said. May was going to continue teasing the boys but decided to have mercy on her nephew.

“I was going to say that we could go get some Thai food since it turns out I’m not working tonight. Would you like to join us Carter?” She said.

“No thanks ma’am, I have to head home soon. But thank you for inviting me” Carter said politely. Carter then quickly gathered his things to go. Peter offered to see him out, which wasn’t far in their small apartment, in order to have an excuse to get away from May’s smirks. So Peter decided to walk Carter out of the building, both of them laughing by the time they exited.

“You’re running away and letting me deal with this on my own?” Peter said teasingly.

“You’ll be fine, she didn’t seem mad. And I do have to head home, by parents are expecting me for dinner,” Carter explained, “Had you told her?”

“No, I was going to the next day she had off. Guess that’s today,” Peter said looking at his feet. He was still nervous about how she would react.

“I can ask my parents and see if I can stay for dinner?” Carter said, making Peter smile.

“No it’s okay, I wanted to tell her on my own anyways,” Peter told him. Carter made Peter promise to tell him how it went and kissed him before he left. He also suggested that maybe that next time they should go to his place next time his parents were out of town, making Peter blush. The blush he hoped was gone by the time he reentered his apartment.

Him and May were sitting at their favorite Thai place eating quietly. May wanted to bring the topic up but she didn’t want to make him more anxious about it then he already was. Instead she told him about her day at work and showing up and having her coworkers be confused as to why she was there. Apparently they had put two nurses down for the same shift by accident. Peter chuckled as she exaggerated how she felt dumb for the confusion even though it wasn’t her fault. Even then it felt like one sided conversation.

“What’s the matter? I thought you loved larb. Is it too larby? Not larby enough?” She tried joking to get him more comfortable, but it wasn’t really working, “How many times do I have to say larb before you talk to me? You know I larb you.” Peter gave her a small smile before going back to pushing his larb around his plate with his chopsticks.

“I was going to tell you,” Peter said, “the next time you had the day off and we had a movie night together or something. I was going to tell you then.”

“Tell me about you and Carter?” May asked.

“Yeah, but I also wanted to come out to you,” Peter confessed, still not looking up from his plate.

“That you also like boys?” May asked remembering how much he liked Liz.

“Yeah, I wanted to tell you that I’m bisexual,” Peter said, “I just didn’t expect to tell you after you caught me kissing my boyfriend.”

“Oh so he’s your boyfriend officially?” May smiled, “He’s cute” Peter smiled at that and nodded.

“You know it doesn’t change anything right? I just know one more thing about you. You’re favorite colors are red and blue, you love science, you’re a genius, and you like boys and girls. I love you and nothing has changed,” May said trying to make eye contact with Peter so that he could see that she meant it, “Well maybe some rules changes about having Carter over.” Peter groaned at her teasing but felt a weight come off his shoulders after hearing her reassuring words.

“Ben would say the same thing,” She added on quietly.

“I know,” Peter said, “He knew. I was going to tell both of you at the same time but you were at work and he was making dinner and I just blurted it out. He was supposed to help me tell you but…” His aunt didn’t say anything after that and Peter realized that she might be upset that he hadn’t told her.

“Please don’t be mad at him for not telling you.”

“I’m not. I’m glad he got to know,” She said to him with a sad look in her eyes that she tried to cover up with a smile, “You know I should probably give you the talk again.”

“No! Ben did after I told him. And then you did again when I went to homecoming, which why? It was one date! I don’t need it a third time,” Peter practically begged.

“I’m a nurse, I’m sure I can help with some information that hasn’t been brought up,” May said. Her nephew just let out a frustrated groan and continued eating his larb with a scrunched up nose.

* * * *

“And then she gives me the nurse version of the talk, again! This time so it includes quote ‘relevant information for same sex couples’ that she didn’t know have been needed!,” Peter says moving his hands around as he tells his friends and Santi about what had happened. They were hanging out at that tattoo shop Sunday night. Peter had gone on a patrol earlier that night, and still couldn’t get used to how amazing the new suit was. Especially with Karen installed and being able to direct him to crime and contacting the police for him. Ned had been upset about being replaced as the guy in the chair, but Peter reassured him that he would always be his guy in the chair. He wouldn’t be able to read maps and information while he swung around the city. It wasn’t like the Iron Man suit where Friday could always help pilot. That had made Ned feel better before they got into a full born argument. Mr. Stark had put in a baby monitor protocol while he learned to use the suit fully. Peter had disagreed with it, telling his mentor that he had helped program the suit and knew everything there was to know about it. Mr. Stark had still insisted upon it and set up the protocols outside of Karen and had made Peter promise he wouldn’t change it. He had gotten a bit banged up during his patrol, he was so focused on the suit and how great it was that he was distracted from paying attention to his surroundings. He had asked Karen to send a message to Santi to see if he was free. When Ned and MJ asked if they were still having movie night, he directed them to the shop.

“I mean she did walk in on you and Carter making out, seems like the reasonable thing to do,” Santi said while his two best friends were still laughing with tears in their eyes.

“I’m 15, we were just kissing!” Peter defended.

“Aren’t you glad Santi stopped doing art on you? Imagine if Carter had seen?” MJ teased.

“We were fully clothed!”

“but were you going to stay that way?” Ned asked smirking as he raised his eyebrows.

“I can’t wait until one of you dates someone so I can pay you back for all the teasing. He didn’t see and I only have one more tattoo that needs to completely fade, and you can barely see it,” Peter said flustered, “Why don’t you finally ask Betty out on a date?”

“Hey! What does that have to do with anything?” Ned exclaimed, “did you tell Santi about getting grounded from patrol again.”

“Did you just snitch on me?”

“Why did you get grounded?” Santi asked curiously, it was rare for Peter to get into enough trouble that May was mad enough to take away something he loved. Peter told him why he had gotten in trouble, with MJ and Ned gladly adding on what he had tried to purposefully leave out. His senses let him know that his was about to get lightly smacked in the head, and decided to just let it happen.

“Ow,” he said anyways, smiling. He knew that Santiago did it in a brotherly way.

'What did I say about making to the most out of the opportunity? Why would you stick your nose where it shouldn’t go? What if he had taken away the internship? If I was him, I would have,” Santi scolded.

“He understood okay?” Peter said. Based on the expression worn by the three people around him, they didn’t quite believe him.

“What?” Santi asked in disbelief.

“He got why I didn’t think it through before I did it. He understood, said he got into trouble as a kid for it too. He was still upset, but told me not to do it again. I apologized, got grounded by May. I won’t do it again.”

“Good.”

* * * *

Going on patrols is one of Peter’s favorite things to do. He tries to go as often as he possibly can without getting in trouble with May. He loves the feeling of swinging high above the ground, from building to building. Likes the moment when he hits terminal velocity as he swings upwards and stops for a second before letting go and creating a new web to swing once more. He liked being able to help people. He also secretly liked the adrenaline he got when fighting with a criminal. He liked the freedom that came with anonymity, the quick quips he made that annoyed criminals to no end. Tonight was no different.

“Peter, there is an attempt to mug a women two blocks north from your current location,” Karen let him know. He made his way over, getting lost in the repetitive swinging motion. When he got there, there were two men backing women into the back end of an alley. The women was clutching her purse to side, her hand trembling in fear. Her face was pale, and her eyes kept moving as if trying to find a direction to run. Peter jumped down from where he had stuck to the wall. Before the culprits could move towards them Peter had them pinned to the wall with webs.

“Two against one isn’t very fair. I would say that two men against a women is unfair but wouldn’t that be sexist? Assaulting and harassing anyone seems very cowardly to me. Wouldn’t you agree?” He said with the slight voice modulation that Mr. Stark had included. It was close to how he normally sounded, but there was enough of a difference that people wouldn’t recognize him without the mask. He turned to the women and politely and asked that she right had a piece of paper she could right her name on to give to the police. She pulled out a piece a paper and pen from her purse and wrote down her name. Peter added his own note and stuck it to one of the two men for the police to see. _Attempted mugging_ he had wrote next to the women’s name. He told her that the police would be there soon, knowing that Karen had contacted them, and that she could wait if she would like.

He continued the same routine for the next two hours. He would hear something happening, or Karen would let him know. He would show up, do his gimmick, and move on to the next. Some people stayed long enough to say thank you, others ran as soon as they had an opening. There was even an older lady that he helped carry groceries up to her apartment since the elevator to her building was out of order. She gave him an orange as a thank you. After that he had called it a day and went to the roof of a building and let himself look out into the city. It was something that he did after every patrol. He liked to just see, see without thinking. A moment of peace. He sat for a few minutes before heading home.

On his way there he noticed his senses buzzing in the background but when he stopped to looked around he didn’t see anything that might have set it off. Peter asked Karen if there was anything wrong in the near vicinity but she couldn’t find anything either. The buzzing continued for a while longer until it seemed as if he was out of reach. He decided to take a different route to his apartment in case someone was following where he was going. He made it back just in time for his curfew.

“Peter is that you?” May called out.

“Yeah.”

“So Mr. Stark called me. Said he was heading upstate to the compound next week. He wanted to know if he could steal you away for the weekend, I guess he has a lab up there to do work in,” She said. Peter stumbled over her pajama pants he was trying to put on as he tried to head to the kitchen.

“Seriously? Please tell me you said yes!” He said jumping up and down like an excited toddler.

“Yeah, I said it was fine as long as he had you back in time for school.”

“You’re the best May.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided not to post an extra chapter last week because this week it was a bit longer. Sorry for the late post, I've been having awful headaches.


	16. Chapter 16

Peter had been jumping off of walls all week, and it was driving everyone around him insane. They were glad that Peter was excited, it had been a long time since they had seen him that excited, but he was driving them insane. Even more so when he refused tell his friends and boyfriend why he was so excited.

“Dude, I’m glad you’re excited but you’ve been complaining all week about the fact that you wish it was Friday. More so than usual. What is happening this weekend?” Ned asked his best friend.

“Can’t say. It’s internship related but I was told I can’t say anything,” Peter explained. He wasn’t lying, Mr. Stark had texted him asking to keep it on the down low. The last thing he needed is the media finding out he was taking teenagers to the compound and start asking questions.

“Ugh dude you’re so lucky,” Ned replied. Peter tried to tone his complaining down but he had never been outside of the city before. And he got to drive there with Mr. Stark. When it finally reached Friday he kept looking at the clock every five minutes, knowing that Mr. Stark was having someone pick him up after school. Carter had been a little annoyed since he was hoping that they could hang out during the weekend, but had took it well.

He only got worse in academic decathlon. He had tried asking MJ if he could skip for the day but was told that if he missed practice then she would hold double the practices next week and explain to the team whose fault it was. So he showed up to practice. Their practice together had them form two teams to compete against each other. They practiced round after round of questions until MJ was satisfied and finally set them free. Peter got his things together and was heading out the doors when he ran into one of his “favorite” people in the world.

“Hey Penis, your girlfriend started a rumor that you have an internship with Tony Stark,” Flash called out the boy who just wanted get started on his weekend.

“I don’t have a girlfriend Flash,” Peter said to the boy rolling his eyes. He knew what Flash was trying to do, but Peter didn’t want to give him the satisfaction.

“You’re going out with Carter aren’t you?” Flash asked.

“Yeah, which would make him my boyfriend. Unless you meant to misgender him. Then that would be a jibe at him, not me. And would be very transphobic and homophobic of you,” Peter said.

“Not cool Eugene,” MJ said glaring at the boy.

“That wasn’t my intention, I was just trying to tease Parker,” Flash said in rare genuineness. Huh, at least Flash had some morals.

“I don’t care who Penis dates. I’m just surprised anyone would be willing to date such a loser,” Flash started again, “No wonder Carter tried to say you have an internship with Stark.”

“The internship is real, he knows Tony Stark personally,” Ned tried to help but Peter just glared at him. They had agreed that they wouldn’t say anything, and it was for this reason.

“Yeah? Just like how he knows Spider Man?” Flash mocked. Peter’s phone buzzed, his ride was wondering where he was. Peter rolled his eyes at Flash and walked around him. He would have to talk to Carter about what Flash had said. Peter was actually mad at the boy for telling people when he had promised that he wouldn’t. He tried not to let what Flash get to him. He waved goodbye to his friends and entered the black car that matched the description that was given to him. It was the nicest car he had ever been in. Inside sat Mr. Stark who looked to be answering emails on his phone. Peter put on his seatbelt and waited quietly, not wanting to interrupt Mr. Stark’s work. They drove for several minutes before Mr. Stark put down his phone and looked towards Peter.

“Hey underoos, how’s it going?” his mentor asked.

“Hey Mr. Stark! I’m doing pretty good, sorry I didn’t say hi earlier, I didn’t want to interrupt what you were doing,” Peter explained.

“Thanks kid, I would have gotten distracted and Pepper would get mad if I didn’t get that work done,” Mr. Stark replied, “Happy Hogan is driving us, he will be picking you up on your internship days and when I need you at the compound.”

“Hi Mr. Hogan.”

“Just call me Happy, kid,” Happy told Peter. The rest of the drive went by in relative silence with Peter and Mr. Stark talking about some plans for a project they were working on. Peter tried to shake off what had happened at the end of the academic decathlon practice, but he was still upset that Carter had told someone about the internship.

_Peter:_ Did you tell Flash about my internship with Mr. Stark?

 _Carter:_ No, but I kind of told my friends about it.

 _Peter:_ You promised you wouldn’t say anything.

 _Carter:_ I know, I was just annoyed that you couldn’t hang out this weekend. So I was telling them about it and it came out. I don’t understand why it matters that much, if anything people are impressed.

 _Peter:_ Except that no one believes it. That’s why I didn’t want to say anything. Flash gives me enough of a hard time as it is, this doesn’t help.

 _Carter:_ Peter, you’re a genius. Everyone will believe that you have an internship with Mr. Stark. Flash is the only one who doesn’t.

 _Peter_ : Flash is the only one who is constantly bugging me.

 _Carter_ : Do you want me to say something to him about it.

 _Peter_ : No I can handle it. I just wish you hadn’t said anything about it.

 _Carter_ : You got to tell your friends, why can’t I tell mine? I was just telling them how I was frustrated but it was hard to do that without saying the cause of it.

 _Peter_ : It’s one weekend, and I promised that we would spend time together next weekend. I’ll make it up to you.

 _Carter_ : Yeah but ever since you got that internship, you’re there all the time.

 _Peter_ : that’s not true. It’s not like I canceled plans with you to come to the retreat. I already said that I would make it up to you, what else do you want me to do?

Carter replied, but before Peter could read what he had said someone interrupted. “You’re phone sure seems interesting. What’s with the frown, you fighting with your girlfriend or something?” Mr. Stark pulls him out of

“No, I don’t have a girlfriend,” Peter grumbled, “Just stuff with school.”

“Ah high school. Speaking of, why are you still there?” Mr. Stark asked the grumpy boy.

“Different reasons. I like my friends, I don’t want to me a 15 year old college kid because I’ll be an outcast, and college is expensive,” Peter explained.

“Yeah but with your brains any university would scoop you up with a scholarship.”

“I guess, but high school is hard enough as it is, I don’t need to be that weird smart kid in college who people find childish,” Peter said pouting.

“At least you wouldn’t be bored sitting through your classes. I’ve looked at your school file, they don’t even know where to put you in math next year since you’re taking the highest level math they offer and you’re barely a freshman. At least they’re different science classes they can stick you in, but I’m sure you already know most of what is being taught.” Mr. Stark said.

“What happened to hacking is bad and illegal?” Peter said.

“Yeah well do as I say not as I do, or whatever the expression is,” Mr. Stark says waving off his comment, “is staying with your friends really worth the boredom? I found Rhodey in MIT when I was around your age, maybe you’ll find yours.”

“I already found my Rhodey, I have two of them Mr. Stark. Their names are Ned and MJ,” Peter explained, “School is where I go to have healthy interactions with people my age. That’s what May and Ben explained to me a few years ago.”

“I guess I can see that, if it wasn’t for Rhodey, my memories at MIT would be very different,” Mr. Stark said thoughtfully. Peter’s phone buzzed again, signaling that Carter had sent him another message.

_Carter_ : Nothing, we’ll do something next weekend. I’ll tell my friends not to say anything else about your internship. I’m sorry they spread it around.

 _Carter_ : Peter?

 _Peter_ : Sorry, I was talking with Mr. Stark.

 _Peter_ : Yeah, I’ll make sure I have to whole weekend free.

 _Peter_ : And you don’t have to say anything to your friends, it’s already out anyways. I have to go but I’ll call you later.

Peter still felt uneasy about his argument with Carter? Was it an argument? It would be their first one since they started dating.

* * * *

The compound was a lot bigger and much more occupied than what Peter had expected. There was a group of agents running around the property with two quinjets sitting on the deck. Before he could get a closer look, their car entered a large garage underground. When they entered the compound, they entered what looked to be the residential area. Mr. Stark pointed out the different areas, explaining that there are two residential wings. Mr. Stark had his personal residential suite in the west wing that only he, and certain others, had access to. Peter would be staying in one of the room there, making the boy even more excited. He was allowed to roam around the west wing but that was the only access he had. Peter didn’t complain, the west wing was big on its own and Peter would have more than enough to entertain himself for the weekend when he wasn’t working with Mr. Stark. After seeing the lab, Peter didn’t think he would spend much time anywhere else with all the tech and equipment available. This lab was just as nice as the one in the tower, maybe a bit smaller. But before they got to work Mr. Stark insisted on feeding him lunch, apparently his Aunt May had told him he had to make sure Peter was well fed. Especially since he had a faster metabolism that Mr. Stark hadn’t known about at that point. As they walked into the communal kitchen in the west wing, they found the others that were residing in that area.

“Oh my god, you’re Bruce Banner,” the words spilled out of Peter before he could hold them back, “I’ve read all you articles on gamma radiation and trying to find resistance to radiation poisoning. And your theories on the catalytic converter to neutralize carcinogens that you were working on with Mr. Stark. That is so amazing. Though in your theories you used a three way converter commonly used in cars but I a reconstructed four way converter might be better with the compounds you were looking at.” Dr. Banner just looked at the boy with confusion, but also with a glint in his eyes. Mr. Stark was smirking, but his expression had a hint of surprise at the boys suggestion because it could work. No one said anything for a few seconds, making Peter nervous and start spewing some more.

“You know, that way you can stabilize the free radical into more stable tetrahedral that would result in a decrease of unwanted reactions,” Peter said.

“Damn kid, Tony was right. You can keep up with him,” Colonel Rhodes said from where he stood by the stove. He was on lunch duty that day.

“Hi Colonel Rhodes. I like your leg braces, they’re really cool. Though I would have used a hydraulic system to make your movements smoother and reduce the noise as well. But it seems like Mr. Stark was able to do that with a motorized version. I guess using a similar version of an arc reactor has a better trade off. Sorry, I ramble when I’m nervous,” Peter said as he saw the looks of the people around him.

“Sorry, we’re still house training him,” Mr. Stark said

“I’m not a puppy.”

“Says the boy who just had word vomit because he was geeking out.” Mr. Stark tells him. Rhodey looks fondly at the two; it was the first time he had seen them interact. Tony wore a proud look on his face as he guided the boy to sit next to Bruce.

“This is my intern, Peter Parker. He can be very enthusiastic,” The man introduced the boy. The hazel eyed boy just stuck his tongue out at Tony, making Tony snort. Bruce went to formally introduce himself to Peter in his usual awkward manner and Rhodey smiled and told him that it was nice to finally meet him. Natasha was sitting there quietly amused at their antics, but it was obvious that Tony had no intention of directing a single word towards her. She quietly introduced herself to the boy and he politely told her it was nice to meet her, but he wasn’t super interested, nor impressed with her. Which only amused her further, as usually people were afraid, impressed, or intimidated by her. However, she didn’t know that Peter was hoping that she wasn’t suspicious of him. If anyone could figure out his identity it would be her. Even if he didn’t know how to feel about her and felt uneasy around her, he knew better than to underestimate her.

Colonel Rhodes finished cooking the pasta he was making and set the pan down on the table so that each person could grab their own portion. Peter waited until everyone was done grabbing their own plate before scooping up his own. He didn’t want to leave anyone hungry just because he took up too much pasta. Natasha and Bruce were having a conversation and Mr. Stark was talking to Colonel Rhodes. Peter tried not to eavesdrop but it was impossible when he was so close to them. Natasha Romanoff was supposed to be in the east wing but according to Rhodey he had authorized for her to be moved to the west wing with the residents there. She had signed the new accords, passed all evaluations, and was going through a probationary period before officially being reinstated as an Avenger. Colonel Rhodes thought it would be better if she changed her residence since all the Avengers so far resided there while East wing remained uninhabited. Mr. Stark wasn’t too happy about the change but acknowledge it since Rhodes was the one who oversaw the Avengers when it came to training, missions, and in the field. Though Mr. Stark let his best friend know that he didn’t trust her and mentioned something about her knowing about his parents that Peter didn’t quite know the context behind. Rhodes assured the man that he didn’t trust her either, but that he needed to know if she could still be trusted in the field.

* * * *

Peter was having the best day of his life! It was the weekend, no homework, he didn’t have to go home, and he got to spend hours in the lab with Mr. Stark. He was still a little nervous around the man but the more he worked with him the less those feeling came up. Sometimes they would get so entranced with what they were working on that Peter would forget who exactly he was working with. Once he realized this, then he became nervous again. But he found that those moments were becoming less and less common. They worked on Avenger and Shield tech since Mr. Stark didn’t want SI work in the compound. They were currently working on the War Machine suit and improving how the braces integrated with the suite.

“Come on kid, put some elbow grease into it,” Mr. Stark said as he watched Peter work.

“Mr. Stark I don’t need elbow grease, super strength remember?” Peter replied knowing that they were the only two working in the lab.

“Yeah, yeah,” Mr. Stark said with an exaggerated eye roll and waving his hand at him when Peter turned to look at him with a small smirk, “pull your sleeves up you’re going to get oil all over them, don’t they get in the way?”

“Are you going to do anything? Or am I doing all the work?” Peter quipped back at the man, “I know you’re getting old so I understand I guess.”

“Hey now, I’m not that old.” They continued working, bickering back and forth while making some small talk. Peter was telling Tony about how Ned had gotten a new Lego set that they were going to build the next time they hung out. Tony told Peter about a boring meeting that Pepper had made him go to and how she glared at him throughout half of it for being late and being on his phone. Peter told him about the academic decathlon team winning their last meet and was hoping to go to nationals again. Tony then teased him about being a nerd and then said his stunt at the Washington monument was pretty impressive. But then when Peter told him the actual reason why that had happened then Tony lectured him about messing with things he didn’t know about. Though Tony added on that with his superhero line of work mistakes were bound to be made and learning from them was the best thing he could do about it. Tony then mentioned that with his help he could help prevent mistakes and would have someone to ask for help instead. Peter beamed at the man after that, which made Tony slightly uncomfortable and deflected with his usual humor. But caught Peter’s arm with rolled up sleeves.

“Didn’t your aunt ever teach you not to draw on yourself,” Tony said pointing at the tattoo that looked to be several decades old instead of weeks old. It was a side profile of a man’s face with only the white of his eyes showing and a red tear drop coming from the corner of his eye. The top of his was open and from it grew purple hyacinths. It was the last tattoo that Peter could convince Santi to give him and in a few days would be gone completely.

“It’ll be gone a few days,” Peter replied continuing his work.

“And you’re aunt knows about it?” Tony asked skeptically.

“yeah, but she wasn’t too happy about it when she found out. I had a whole sleeve done when she did,” Peter explained, “She saw that they would go away and I was able to convince her eventually.”

“And someone just tattoos a fifteen year old?” Tony said.

“He didn’t know I was underage until after my aunt found out,” Peter proceeded to give a brief summary of how it had played out.

“He treats me like a little brother and I go there to hang out all the time,” Peter told Mr. Stark happily as he finished up what he was doing.

“So they just heal and disappear?” Tony asked interested.

“Yeah, some faster than the others. I have some theories but I’m not entirely sure about how. Tattoos aren’t against Stark Industries policy are they?”

“No, of course not, just curious. We should definitely put you through some tests. We also need to get some medicine that will work on you like we did with Rogers. We’ll do that the next time we come up,” Tony said, “Let’s go get you something to eat. I promised your aunt you would be well fed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a bit behind on writing, but I'm really excited for you all to read what I have planned. It went astray to what I originally had planned out, but it's better for it.


	17. Chapter 17

Tony hated meetings and he especially hated meeting with politicians. But there he was sitting through yet another meeting with the council. Topic of the day being the rogues. Yippee. Apparently they had all signed the accords and would be returning within the next month or so and would be housed in the west wind of the compound. Yay. Never had he been so glad that he was semi-retired then in that moment. He would let Rhodey deal with them and only see them when they had to train and on missions where he was absolutely needed. He would have to send Rhodey a gift basket or filled with headache relievers so that he could be prepared. They were discussing the pay the Avengers would have, their budget for their equipment, blah, blah, blah. But at least he wouldn’t have to front the cost for their ungrateful asses. The committee also wanted to know their plan to gain the public’s trust

“That’s going to be the most difficult part,” one of the committee members pointed out.

“It’s not something that can be done overnight. The plan is to let it be publicly known that they signed the accords, will be going through a probationary period, and that there would be measures so that what happened in Germany and Romania don’t happen again. Want trust then the best thing to do would be to be as transparent as possible with the process,” Tony stated.

“The public trusts Dr. Stark, I believe it would be best let him do as he plans,” King T’Challa voiced his support. Some of the committee members were still reluctant about the pardons, especially the German and Romanian members, but the majority agreed with the plan and so they moved onto the next point. It was another two hours before the meeting was over, Tony and Rhodes turned off the video/ holographic call and left the conference room.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Rhodes groaned. Tony replied by groaning back.

“But I don’t want too.” and stamping his feet.

“You’re the one who decided to let it happen.” To which Tony just stuck his tongue out. His phone buzzed.

_Peter:_ Hey Mr. Stark, can I use the training room?

 _Tony_ : sure kid, that’s why you have access to it. Let me lock it down so no one can go in in case you want to use your bug powers.

 _Peter:_ Spiders aren’t bugs

 _Tony_ : Can I tell Rhodey about your hobby?

 _Peter:_ You’re just going to ignore my correction? I mean if you trust him then I trust him.

“is that Pepper?” Rhodey asked

“No it’s my kid,” Tony replied.

“You’re kid huh?” Rhodey smirked at his best friend

“My intern. Your know what I meant,” Tony said, “stresses me out, gets Pepper to yell at me, same thing.”

By the time that Tony and Rhodey had gotten to the training area, Peter was running on the treadmill. If Tony focused on Peter’s facial expressions then he would have thought that the kid’s pace was at a light jog. But he was running on a treadmill that he had designed for someone enhanced and was running faster than most people. Rhodey turned to look at Tony exasperated at what he saw, and then looked back at Peter as if to make sure that he was indeed seeing what he was seeing. Peter noticed their presence and slowed to a stop.

“Hey Mr. Stark! This place is so cool!” Peter said enthusiastically as he went to go meet the two men, “Hi Colonel Rhodes.”

“Is that the fastest you can run?” Tony asked.

“No, I just didn’t want to break your treadmill,” Peter said

“billionaire remember?” Tony said pointing at himself.

“That doesn’t mean I can just break your stuff Mr. Stark.”

“It’s built for enhanced people. Come on I want to see how fast you can go,” Tony insisted. Peter got on somewhat reluctant. He was also curious about how fast he could go, but at the same time, he wasn’t super sure he wouldn’t break the machine. After some reassurance from Tony the boy started running again. He worked his way up to faster speeds until he reached the point where Mr. Stark told him to stop increasing the speed. It was the fastest that Peter had ever let himself run and it felt really nice to not have to hold back. Even with the speed he was at, he still wasn’t straining to keep up.

“Your running at Rogers’ speed kid. Good job. Why don’t you hop off so we can get some food into you,” Tony said.

“Are we just going to ignore the fact that a fifteen year old was running the same pace at Captain America?” Rhodey asked.

“I thought Mr. Stark told you?” Peter asked confused.

“I wanted to see his reaction,” Tony told the boy. He turned to Rhodey and simply said, “He’s enhanced Rhodey Bear. Meet our friendly neighborhood Spiderman.” Rhodey turned to look at the boy in question, to which Peter awkwardly waved.

“Your intern is a superhero, of course he is. Wait is that why you made him your intern?” Rhodey asked.

“No, I wanted him as my intern after he hacked me the first time. Finding out he was Spiderman came afterwards. Thought I could help keep him safe and whatnot,” Tony explained. Peter was ecstatic to here that, he had a small doubt at the back of his mind that Tony only bothered with him because he was Spiderman. He was glad to know different.

“Am I going to get another, you’re too young to be playing hero talk?” Peter asked, “Because I’ve been there, done that twice now so I really rather not do that again Colonel Rhodes.”

“You are just a kid, but something tells me that if you get along with Tony you must be just as stubborn and reckless as he is. At least he’s helping you,” Colonel Rhodes said to the boy, “we can train you here at the compound as well.”

“That would be so cool! Thanks Colonel Rhodes,” Peter said bouncing up and down.

“Just Rhodey kid,” Rhodes said with a smile on his face.

“Thanks Rhodey,” Peter said smiling back at the man. They made their way out of the gym towards the kitchen. Tony grumbled something about Peter refusing to call him anything other than Mr. Stark but readily dropping the formalities with his best friend. Peter ran off to take a shower before grabbing something to eat.

* * * *

“Dude, what is your life?” Ned asked absolutely thrilled after hearing about how Peter’s weekend was going. The three best friends were video calling on Saturday night. Peter had told them about working in the lab in the compound and some of the training sessions he had with Mr. Stark and Colonel Rhodes. Colonel Rhodes had sparred with him and told Peter he was surprised at the training that he already had. The Colonel recognized some of the military hand on hand training and Peter had explained that Santi had taught him a few things. When Rhodey had asked who Santi was Peter simply said he was a friend. He had to hold back when sparring as to not hurt Rhodey but Peter still had a lot of fun. Peter also told his friends about meeting Dr. Banner and his brief introduction with the Black Widow. Ned couldn’t believe he got to meet Dr. Banner while MJ teased him about his word vomit when meeting the man.

“Dude, I know! This weekend has been the best weekend ever. I mean besides my argument with Carter it was perfect,” Peter said enthusiastically. His friends asked about his argument and whether everything was ok between them. Peter was honest when he told them he wasn’t sure. They hadn’t really talked after their brief conversation while texting. Peter was still annoyed at the fact that people knew about his internship. But he wasn’t mad at Carter anymore and it didn’t seem like Carter was mad at him either. He told Ned and MJ about what had happened and they agreed that it wasn’t his secret to tell but at least it wasn’t something worse.

“I wouldn’t tell him about Spiderman yet,” MJ advised.

“It actually hasn’t crossed my mind to tell him, but you’re right,” Peter said. He didn’t recognize the feeling that came through him as they moved on with their conversation. MJ told them about a documentary she had seen on Netflix and about a book that she has been trying to get. Ned told his friends about his dinner at his grandma’s house for her birthday and studying for a midterm test. Peter’s first reaction is to offer help but stopped himself. He learned that it was better if Ned asked him for help first. They were talking about getting together on Friday night to work on the new Lego set and watch the documentary that MJ had told them about when someone knocked on his door. Mr. Stark opened the door slightly so that there was only enough room stand in the opening.

“Hey kid, we’re heading out after you get some breakfast so make sure you have everything you need,” his mentor told him.

"Okay, I will,” Peter replied to him, “you also need to chill with the feeding.”

“Your aunt said you eat a lot,” Mr. Stark said.

“Yeah, but I can manage. I usually eat less anyways. I don’t want her to stress out about the grocery bill,” Peter explained forgetting that his friends were listening in.

“Well you don’t have to worry about that with me, just eat your fill and what not. Just make sure you’re ready by ten,” Mr. Stark said leaving making a note to himself to check in with his aunt about that.

“Dude you just told Mr. Stark to chill,” Ned said from his screen.

“Have you not been eating enough?” MJ asked with glaring at him.

“I have,” Peter replied to her.

“You just said you usually eat less,” MJ pointed out.

“Yeah, but it’s still enough so it doesn’t affect me. I haven’t lost weight or anything,” Peter told her.

“But you’re still hungry,” MJ didn’t leave it alone.

“I’m always hungry MJ. I get enough to eat.”

“If you’re still hungry then you’re obviously not.”

“Can we not talk about this. And don’t tell May,” Peter pleaded. Afterwards he said goodbye to them both and went to bed. Though Ned and MJ stayed on the video call.

“You know he’ll get upset if you tell May,” Ned pointed out. MJ didn’t respond to Ned’s statement and said goodnight to him as well. Ned sighed before going to bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry for not posting in two weeks but school has been a lot lately. Because of this I won't be posting anymore chapters until December.


	18. Chapter 18

“I can’t believe you told her, why would you tell her,” Peter said as he barged into the lab.

“Told who what?” Tony said without looking away from the screens in front of him.

“Told my aunt about my food intake. It’s none of your business,” Peter insisted knowing that he knew exactly what he was referring too.

“It is my business because we made a deal where I keep her updated about you. So yes, I told her because you should be eating more,” Tony told him.

“I’ve been eating enough. And with the internship pay I was going to chip in for groceries but she won’t let me. I don’t want her to stress out about it,” Peter held onto his argument.

“She’ll be even more stressed out if you pass out or get hurt because you aren’t in prime shape. She’ll feel guilty then,” Tony argued back.

“That’s the thing. I do eat enough where it doesn’t affect me at all. I might be a bit hungry but I’m not starving or anything.”

“You don’t know that! Because you’ve never eaten enough for you metabolism. Dr. Cho is going to run some tests to see what your calorie intake should be next weekend, your aunt already agreed.”

“So you weren’t even going to even tell me. You didn’t even ask me if I was okay with it?”

“I mentioned doing tests a couple of days ago and you agreed. She was going to take a look at your metabolism anyways. What’s the difference?” Tony said annoyed at the teenager.

“The difference is that I wasn’t a part of the conversation. I’m not some little kid who doesn’t know better. I’m old enough to at least be included. But you and May just decided to have me be the lab rat without letting me a part of the decision!” Peter complained. Peter then turned to start working on his project while putting his earphones in so that he wouldn’t have to talk to Tony anymore. Tony thought that was a bit dramatic but let it go. But after a while Tony found it strange to not have Peter’s constant word vomit around while working. He found it especially unsettling when Peter seemed so concentrated on what he was doing while wearing a scowl. Rhodey walked in and took one look at Peter and could tell he wasn’t in a good mood. Peter noticed Rhodey and waved at him but went back to what he was doing right away.

“Teenage angst over there is in a mood today,” Tony explained to him.

“I can see that. Is there a reason?” Rhodey asked his best friend. Tony gave him the run down.

“Yeah I can see why he is mad. His aunt must be struggling and doesn’t want to add onto that. And he has a point, he should have been included in that conversation. I remember when you were all teenage angst in college. You would throw a tantrum if anyone treated you like a kid, which you were by the way,” Rhodey pointed out.

“yeah, yeah I know. I was going to apologize but he went all dramatic and put his earphones on. Figured it would be best to just give him space,” Tony explained.

“You’re good at this. This whole mentor thing you have going on. You’ve only been working with him for a few months but you’re doing good,” Rhodey complemented. Tony just shrugged and the conversation moved elsewhere. Rhodey let him know they would be training the upcoming weekend and that it probably be best if he didn’t bring Peter along, but Tony told him it wouldn’t be a problem.

“I only get him every other weekend. His aunt said she needs some time with him too and weekends are sometimes the only time where she can,” Tony said while he was looking at his screen.

“Why did that sound like you have a custody agreement with her?”

“I do in a way. I get him two days a week when he comes to the compound on weekends and three days a week when he doesn’t, usually on the day she works nights,” Tony explained still not looking at Rhodey as he was focused on his work. But before he noticed the expression on Rhodey’s face, Friday let him know that his delivery had arrived.

“Want to join us for some pizza?” Tony offered to the man.

“You’re going to bribe him with pizza?” Was the response he got.

“Can’t go wrong with pizza,” Tony said as he went over to get Peter’s attention and asked him to help him with something. Peter was too polite to refuse and so he went with him. After getting the pizza from the delivery boy and giving him a generous tip to the star struck deliveryman, they placed the boxes of pizza on the coffee table in Tony Stark’s living room. After they each got their plates and sat down to eat them Tony broached the topic.

“Look kid, you’re right we should have included you in the conversation and I’m sorry for that. But you have to understand that your health comes first,” Tony said to him.

“I know that, May gave me this long lecture about that and how it was her job to worry about things like that and my job was to be a kid,” Peter said with some grumpiness. She had scolded him for twenty minutes about honesty, and his health, and how she wished she had heard it from him instead of from MJ and Mr. Stark. He had tried to confront MJ about it as well but all she said was something about being a good friend meant looking out for him even when he was being an idiot. Peter had gained the wisdom to learn to pick his battles with MJ a long time ago, and left it that.

“It’s just been hard for her. She’s barely moving on from Uncle Ben’s death and I don’t want her to have more to worry about,” He continued to explain.

“But that doesn’t mean you can overlook your health. Your health has to come first,” Tony insisted.

“I know. At least May got a small promotion that came with a raise so things should get a bit better,” Peter said, “I’m sorry I was being rude Mr. Stark.” Tony waved off his apology easily saying it was not big deal, it was expected for teenagers to be filled with grumpiness, to which earned him a mocking glare from Peter. Peter had been so happy when he heard that May had gotten a promotion. Since she worked so many shifts, she knew all the inner workings at the hospital and gave her a better positions. It might mean that she gets less shifts as well. Peter and her were going to have Thai as a celebration on her night off. Mr. Stark suggested a break from working, so they had opted to start a movie. Rhodey chose Zootopia which Peter seconded. He was a little nervous, he had never been in the tower for anything other than work. But it didn’t take long for him to get comfortable. As they were settling in to start, Pepper walked into the living room. She grabbed a plate, got herself a piece of pizza and went to sit next to Tony. It wasn’t until after she had taken off her heals and gotten comfortable did she see the big hazel doe eyes belonging to Peter, who was sitting on the floor.

“Hello, you must be Peter,” Pepper greeted him with a gentle smile, “I’ve heard a lot about you. The R&D department is complaining about Tony being greedy with the new intern.”

“It’s nice to meet you Ms. Potts,” Peter replied with a nervous smile, “um, how do they know about me. They’ve only seen me once.”

“They’ve seen you name attached to the projects you’ve worked on with Tony. They’re very curious about you,” Pepper explained, “Tony is going to have to start letting you go down there sometimes.”

“But Pepper, he is mine and I don’t want to share,” Tony said petulantly.

“He can go down there on the days you’re not available, don’t pout,” Pepper said fondly. Peter just grinned at their interaction, but thought it might be interesting to work on other projects. Peter also noticed that Ms. Potts looked as if she wanted to say something to Tony and couldn’t because of him. He decided it would maybe be best if he left, he had wanted to go on a patrol anyways. So before Rhodey can press play he lets Mr. Stark know that he had a test he forgot to study for and has to head home. Mr. Stark offers his driver to take him home since it was getting late. Peter needed to go home to grab his suit anyways so readily agreed and thanked the man. He said goodbye to Colonel Rhodes and to Pepper as he left.

“You scared off my intern,” Tony teased Pepper.

“I did not, he said he had to study,” Pepper defended.

“Pep, that boy is as smart as I am. He did not need to study for any high school test,” Tony said, “He probably noticed what that you wanted to say something].” Tony wasn’t harsh when saying it, and told her she didn’t have to be sorry when she tried to apologize. He could bet his entire net worth that Peter was going to go on a Spiderman patrol. He encourages Pepper to ask what she wanted to ask.

“How are you feeling about the others coming back?” Things had been going well for them so far. There were things here and there that came up, but were able to easily circumvent them. Tony had even invited Pepper to a one or two of his therapy sessions, which had gone surprisingly smoothly. They had gone on a few dates, and most of the awkwardness has gone away. They were both happy with the way things were going, even if it was the slowest they had ever gone. Pepper found that it was for the best, as she had to get to know Tony all over again. He was different and seemed to be in a better place. She just wished he hadn’t have gone through so much in order to do so. Tony was happy with the pace things were going as well, though sometimes he had to remind himself to be patient. Habits are hard to break. But he found that there was an intimacy that wasn’t there the first few times. It wasn’t easier, but something more comfortable. So he found it painless to say what he really felt.

“Not happy with it, but we’re going to need them one day so I agree. I won’t be dealing with them much anyways, that’s Platypus’s job now. You should be asking him instead,” Tony said. Pepper nodded, but wore an expression between fond and sad.

“Are you ever going to tell me what happened?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back. Hopefully I did well on my finals. I will be writing ahead to try and prevent another break in the next semester. Hope everyone is doing well and are healthy. I have covid and it sucks! I hope you never have to go through it.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Violence

Peter had meant for it to be a short patrol, but once he was in the air and swinging from building to building he stayed out as long as he possibly could. He loved how he felt when he was able to stop someone. He liked having the ability to stop a mugging and helping someone, he liked being able to stop a bank robbery, and he liked being able to save someone’s life. And he liked helping get cats down from trees and helping old ladies carry their groceries just as much. Mr. Stark sometimes teased him about the “smaller” things, and Ned asked why he didn’t do something more. But Peter saw the faces of those he helped, regardless of what he had helped them with, and they all wore an expression of relief. Even when getting a cat down from a tree can the person will have a big smile and Peter knows that he played a role, regardless of how small, in that person’s life to make it a little bit better. He liked the feeling he got when he got churros from the old Dominican lady whenever he helped her with something. So even when he has the intention to have a shorter patrol, he can’t help but stay out longer every time.

“Peter, there is a mugging occurring a block away,” Karen informed him as she showed him the coordinates.

“Thanks Karen, you’re the best,” Peter tells his AI as he swings towards the crime. When Peter arrives he sees an older man and a middle aged man. The middle aged man is tall with medium built. In his left hand he had a gun pointed towards the older man who had his back against the wall, wide eyed and hands shaking. The armed man had his back towards Spiderman. He quickly shot a web towards the man’s back and pulled him backwards. He shot another web then shoved the man against the wall and webbed him to it.

“Hasn’t your mom taught you to respect your elders?” Spiderman said to the mugger. He turned around to web the gun, but found the older man pointing it at him.

“Woah, hey, I’m not going to hurt you,” Spiderman told him. But the man remained wide eyed, his hands continuing to shake as he held the gun.

“I’m going to leave now, everything is going to be ok. You’re safe,” Spiderman tried again, in attempt to reassure the man so that he would get out of his shock and place the weapon down. The man took a step closer to him. Peter was getting ready to web the gun away from him when his spider sense went off screaming _immediate danger_. Peter turned around, which was his first mistake, and saw another person walking towards them. Peter assessed the situation as fast as he could.

“You must be a tourist. Most New Yorkers mind their own business,” Peter quipped, as he went to go web up the new player. It stuck to the gun and was pulled out of the person’s grasp. The new player seemed to be shorter with a slighter build, probably a women. She took out knife and swiped across, put Peter jumped back before the he could get cut across his abdomen. He blocked her next attempt and grabbed the knife out of her hand with his free hand. _Danger! Move!_ his senses seemed to scream, but he didn’t move fast enough. The shot rang as he was turning, and felt the bullet go into his side. Pain burst throughout the area, Peter covering his side and he had his back against a wall, so that he could look between the two threats.

“What the hell, I’m trying to help you,” Spiderman said to the older man. He was done playing nice, and he didn’t have time to linger around with him bleeding. He webbed the old man to the wall, gun still in his hand. Then he went to do the same with the women who had gotten involved. He was blocking as many hits and kicks as he could but his spider sense could only do so much. He blocked another punch and went to throw his own towards the women’s side but she clearly had fighting kill and blocked it as well. She went to kick Peter on his side which stuck successful and then used the moments to completely turn and twist around to punch him again. Peter was able to block the hit and then knock her off her feet. He picked her up and threw her to the wall and was finally able to web her as well. He then swung away asking Karen for the fastest route to The Art of Ink shop. He briefly stopped on a roof to web his injury to help with the bleeding. He was lucky that he had been on his way to the shop anyways. Karen had sent a message to Santi that he had been on his way, so he knew that he would be up. Peter entered through the back door.

“What was taking you so long kid, I was starting to get worried,” Santi told him before actually seeing him, he had just heard him come in. He sitting at the reception desk sketching when Peter had arrived.

“Need some help,” Peter said grimacing. The pain was getting worse as the adrenaline started wearing off. Santi stood up right away when he heard what Peter had said and went straight to the first aid kit that he kept in the shop that had a lot more supplies than a first aid kit usually had.

“What the hell happened!” He yelled when he finally got to the boy. Peter had taken the mask off, his hair was a mess and his face was slightly red with sweat.

“Got shot, don’t know if it’s still there. Need you to check before my body heals with it still in there,” Peter tried to explain between grimaces.

“Shit, I think we need to get you to a doctor,” Santi told the boy. This was the worst injury that Peter had gotten since he knew him, and it was more than he knew how to handle, “Do you have a way to contact Dr. Stark? I can’t take you to a regular hospital.”

“I’m not that kind of doctor, but I know someone who could help,” Tony said as he walk into the shop.

“Did you put a tracker on me after all?” Peter asked.

“Not important right now. We need to get you to the compound asap. Got the suit waiting outside. Your friend can drive up if he would like, Friday asked Karen to send him the address. Come on kid,” Tony said helping Peter stand up and head towards the back. Santi quickly stepped in to help. Between the two, it wasn’t difficult to get Peter out back. Santi held onto him while Tony got back into the suit. When Peter was passed to Tony, Tony told Santi he would let him know how he was afterwards and flew up and heading towards the compound, holding the too quiet boy in his arms tightly.

* * * *

Tony was so glad he decided to put in the “baby got a boo boo” protocol into the spider suit. Friday had told him that Peter had been injured and needed immediate help. He used the tracker built into the suit to locate the boy. Tony asked Friday to have Bruce meet them at the med bay and that it would need the upmost discretion possible. As Tony flew out of the tower, the tracker showed Peter moving location, and headed towards it. He had heard the tattooed man suggest calling him. _Smart man_ Tony thought to himself. The man helped him, Santi if he remembered correctly, without questions or being stark struck. He hardly even looked at Tony, focusing on Peter with worry. Tony couldn’t help but like the man for it, hence giving him the address to come check on the Spiderling if he wanted to. Tony knew he would.

Tony flew as fast as he could with the boy in his arms. It took fifteen minutes to arrive at the compound. Luckily it was late at night and not many people were roaming around to stare at him as he walked towards the med bay as Iron Man holding Spiderman. When he entered he saw Bruce standing anxiously and then open his mouth when he saw Tony walk in.

“Help now, ask questions later Dr. Banner,” Tony said in seriousness. He laid Peter down, who was miraculously still awake and aware.

“He has an enhanced metabolism and enhanced healing. He was shot and needs to know if the bullet is still in there. Karen didn’t detect an exit wound, that is where you come in,” Tony explained to the man. Bruce got to work examining Peter, while Tony sat down and watched him work.

“Peter I need to get the bullet out of you before you heal incorrectly, but with your metabolism I need to find an anesthetic that will work on you. I don’t have enough time to produce one for specifically for you so I’m going to use Rogers’. Is that okay with you?” Bruce asked Peter as he saw that he was awake.

“Couldn’t it have negative affects?” Tony asked before Peter could reply.

“No, he might just burn though it slower or faster,” Bruce told him.

“That’s wrong. My DNA might be altered after the spider bite. But I’m not sure,” Peter corrected, “But just try.”

“It might poison you instead,” Tony pointed out protectively. Peter shook his head.

“I’ve tried taken pain medication before, they won’t do anything but they won’t harm me either,” Peter said. Bruce took that as enough explanation and went to work. Tony let out a sigh of relief when he saw that pain medication made for Rogers had worked for Peter and Bruce could get the bullet out without him feeling pain. Bruce told them that the bullet hadn’t hurt anything organs and removing it wouldn’t be difficult. Peter frowned and scrunched up his face as he felt Bruce dig around for the bullet, and let out a sigh when Bruce pulled it out. Bruce stitched him up easily and bandaged it. He asked Peter if he wanted pain medication for tomorrow, but the boy told him that it would probably fully healed by tomorrow. Tony walked him to the room he stayed in a few days ago and told the boy to go to sleep. May was worried about the injury when Tony called her and explained but expressed her gratitude over him taking care of her nephew.

“So you’re intern is Spiderman?” Bruce asked him when Tony walked into the communal area.

“Yes, and I would appreciate it if you didn’t tell anyone,” Tony said.

“Is that why he’s your intern?”

“No, I found him because he was hacked me. I found out he was Spiderman when trying to find who had hacked me,” Tony explained. He smirked when he saw the shocked look that Bruce wore.

“He hacked you?”

“yeah, wanted his AI to meet Friday. He wanted to make sure he wasn’t missing anything with Karen,” Tony explained as he went to make himself a cup of coffee. He was finally calming down after the past few hours of worrying. He could feel the grey hairs growing from his scalp. Bruce nodded at his explanation and went to make himself a cup of tea when his brain finally finished processing the information.

“He made an AI?”

* * * *

Peter woke up groggy in his room at the compound. It took him minute to remember what had happened last night. He went to the restroom in his bedroom suite to check his wound. He lifted up his shirt to find that it was practically healed, he would need to ask Dr. Banner to remove the stitches before they became a problem. What unsettled Peter the most wasn’t the bullet wound, but the fact that he found a clean, tattoo free torso. In fact his entire body was tattoo free and he felt weird about it. Off. He didn’t like it at all. Peter would have to see if he could convince Santi to do another piece. Somewhere, subconsciously, Peter knew he wouldn’t and he understood the reasoning. Leaving behind a sense of annoyance that he tried to shrug off.

After brushing his teeth and washing his face, Peter followed the smell of fresh coffee to Mr. Stark’s personal kitchen. He found the man holding his coffee mug closely as he drank it.

“Hey Mr. Stark,” Peter greeted the man, who startled at hearing him.

“Hey kid, you gave me quite a scare last night.”

“I’m sorry Mr. Stark, usually Santi can help me but it was a bit worse last night,” Peter explained, “I actually need my stitches taken out. Do you know where I can find Dr. Banner?”

Peter assured Mr. Stark that he could go to med bay alone and get his stitches taken out without his help, but Mr. Stark insisted on accompanying him. He had Friday request for Dr. Banner to meet them there. The actual act of taking out the stitches had taken less than five minutes, the rest of the time was Dr. Banner asking him questions about his healing. Peter had answered his questions as best as he could, but in reality he didn’t know much it. He didn’t have the proper lab or tools to look into it more. The scientist didn’t seem to care about his lack of explanations, and was very interested in learning more and asked him if he could take a swab of cells from his cheek. Peter was hesitant in agreeing, and it wasn’t until both Mr. Stark and Dr. Banner reassured him that it would be classified information and wouldn’t be shared with anyone that wasn’t them or Dr. Cho. It would be just to know about his healing and not to do any sort of experiments. The boy agreed as long as his name was on the samples, he figured he had agreed to get some tests done the next time he had come.

“Now you know that when I say that I don’t need stitches, it’s because I actually don’t need them,” Peter claimed. He had tried to get out of getting stitches the previous night, knowing that he would have to get them out the next day anyway. Bruce was insistent that even with a healing factor that stitches were needed. He tried to make him understand but Mr. Stark had asked him to just get the stitches to give him peace of mind, and so Peter agreed.

“Sorry Peter, I didn’t think your healing factor was this fast,” Dr. Banner apologized, “The more we know about it the better we’ll get at treating you.” Mr. Stark told him to go get breakfast soon after, to which the boy rolled his eyes and headed out. The last thing he heard was Mr. Stark muttering about angsty, snarky teenagers. Peter was humming lightly as he made his way back towards the kitchen, wondering if he could get away with drinking some coffee without anyone knowing. But before he could talk himself to do it he heard Natasha talking with someone. He knew that he wasn’t close to the kitchen, it was his heightened hearing picking up the conversation. He could only catch one side of the conversation, making Peter assume that Natasha was talking with someone on the phone.

“He looks just like them. Are you sure the Parkers didn’t have a son?” the ex-assassin asked the other person. Peter froze in place at the mention of whoever these Parkers were, he guessed his parents. But Parker wasn’t exactly an uncommon name, they were probably talking about other people. He couldn’t just not know for sure and decided to get close. He quietly walked towards the kitchen and as he got closer decided to make his way towards the ceiling, knowing that people usually never looked up without a cause.

“You have kids that no one knew about though,” Natasha said, “they could have done the same thing.”

“It would have been harder for them since Mary would have had to hidden the fact that she was pregnant. I didn’t have to worry about that since Laura wasn’t an agent,” the person said, from what Peter could tell it was Clint Barton. They mentioned his mother’s first name, so it wasn’t a coincidence.

“Do you think Tony knows?” Natasha asked, “I mean he always does things for a reason. The kid is his intern.” Peter took slight offense to that, he was an intern because he knew what he was doing.

“No, he never knew about them. I mean technically they were never even Shield, they were CIA,” Clint reminded her. Peter was so surprised at hearing this that he had almost fallen from his place on the ceiling. He thought that his parents were scientist, he remembers hearing his dad talk about his research. But Barton had known them as CIA agents. So what was truth and what was lie?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was hoping to avoid taking long breaks when I first starting this fic, but life happens. I got MEWDS after I got COVID so looking at the screen to write has been difficult. Everything is straightened out, so expect more consistent updates from now on.


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhodey has had enough.

They day had finally arrived, and Tony was not looking forward to it at all. He tried to get out of having to attend, but as co-leader he had no other choice. Natasha said that she had to be there so, he as leader should have to be as well. “At least they like you,” Tony pointed at, trying for humor. Natasha couldn’t even say that it wasn’t true. Unfortunately, Rhodey had agreed, saying that showing the Avengers’ willingness to give the rogues a second chance would be beneficial. So there he was, standing on the compound landing pad, waiting for the rogues to arrive. His heart was hammering in his chest and he almost wanted to pull the heart condition card on Rhodey to get away. But before he could open his mouth to do so, the plane came into view. It seemed that in a blink of an eye, the rogues were walking towards them. Tony was fortunate to have practice in wearing a mask to cover what he truly felt. He still felt anger, not quite as strongly as he once did but anger all the same. He felt anxious, stressed, and he couldn’t keep still. He felt resentment. But most of all he felt tired. He didn’t want to wear any more masks, and he didn’t want to play the role of being a bigger person. Mostly because if he tried, the rogues wouldn’t appreciate it either way. And if he was being honest, it wouldn’t be genuine. So, without realizing it, he decided not to wear a mask anymore. He had decided not to interfere with the pardons, so he would be professional. He would let Rhodey take the lead on this one. He, however, refused to pretend to be sarcastic and smug about everything. He no longer wanted to play the part of textbook narcissist. He wouldn’t show his anxiousness over the whole thing, nor how much he didn’t want to be there, but he wouldn’t hide his dislike over it.

Natasha had noticed the subtle inner conflict within Tony with his expressions changes. Saw how a smirk had fallen off of Tony’s face as he removed his disguise, and in its place he wore a tired, professional expression. But she could see the hints of resentment and anger. It occurred to her for the first time, that she might not know Tony as well as she once thought. Before she could think more on it, Pepper Potts was walking onto the landing strip and went to stand next to Tony.

Tony was surprised by Pepper’s presence, but grateful for it. He let Pepper watch the footage just as he had Rhodey, but this time stayed to rewatch it himself. It was the first time he had watched it since he had lived it. To say that Pepper was furious was an understatement, and she failed to understand why he hadn’t done something about it. But once she had calmed down a little, she could see that he had been the first to make a move towards James Barnes and lying wasn’t exactly a crime so he couldn’t exactly charge Rogers for it. Pepper tried to argue that there was excessive force and withholding evidence of a murder. However, Tony didn’t really want to press charges. When he had first recovered, he had been so mad and thought of doing the same. He knew people in high places, favors were owed. No matter how angry and betrayed he felt, it didn’t feel right to do something like that. However, Pepper wasn’t as forgiving and so there she was.

Tony knew her well enough that he could tell that she was up to something besides just being there to be supportive. But he was grateful all the same and held her hand and welcomed her with a smile. Pepper turned to him in surprise, unused to him showing his affection publicly. It was something that he had been working on. She had attended a few therapy session with Dr. Brown since they first rekindled their romance, and knew that she was trying to get Tony to understand that caring about someone and showing affection to them wasn’t a weakness. Pepper was glad that Tony was getting help with things that happened way before the Avengers, things from his childhood. Tony could see that fondness in her eyes as she gave him a reassuring smile. He must have missed the welcome back and good to be back interaction because then Rhodey turned to Pepper and gave her the go ahead. She let go of Tony’s hand after a brief reassuring squeeze, and stepped toward the forgiven misfits.

“I will need the immediate return of all SI property given to you during your time as avengers. Including the bow and arrows given to Clint Barton as Hawkeye, and the falcon wings given to Sam Wilson,” Pepper said without a blink of an eye.

“Those are ours,” Barton tried to argue, but Pepper didn’t let him finish.

“Unless you have bought or created it yourself, then they are SI property.”

“The falcon wing are from the military,” Wilson explained more politely.

“And where do you think the military got them from? And even then, the updates given to you by Mr. Stark are with SI technology, and therefore the wings are SI property,” Pepper calmly explained.

“Isn’t that Stark’s intellectual property?” Wilson asked.

“yes, however the design and production were done under SI and patented with SI.”

“Are you seriously having Pepper do your dirty work,” Rogers said towards Tony.

“Don’t look at me, this is the first I’m hearing of this,” Tony said with his hands held up. Though he couldn’t deny that he was enjoying it.

“Either way, you aren’t allowed them until you’ve passed your probationary period. Just hand them over before it become a legal case against your full reinstatement,” Rhodey said, he was in full Colonel mode. Rhodey proceeded to inform them that they had read the conditions to their pardon’s, which included the denial of any possession of weapons.

“We didn’t know they would be returned to Stark,” Clint complained. Which only made Rhodey raise an eyebrow and step towards him.

“They aren’t being returned to Dr. Stark, they’re being returned to Stark Industries. Who did you think they was going to confiscate them? Would you have agreed more easily if it were anybody else?” Colonel Rhodes challenged. Barton had enough common sense to remain quiet and let Wilson tell them where everything was. Happy, (where did he come from), went up to the plane with some official looking SI workers and took everything that would be considered SI property along with the bow and the falcon wings. As they searched, Rhodey motioned for the group to enter the compound. The pardoned rogues entered first while Rhodey waited followed behind them, walking next to Tony and Pepper, while Natasha walked a little ahead.

“Dr. Stark was a bit much don’t you think,” Tony tried to joke. But Rhodey had other ideas.

“I always call you Dr. Stark in formal settings Tony, even before when we had military meeting and contracts,” Rhodey said. It was true, it wasn’t common knowledge, but when his best friend was Colonel Rhodes he always called him Dr. Stark.

“You helped Pepper with the whole SI property thing by telling her pardon conditions though,” was all Tony said.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

* * * *

Tony was ready to tear his hair out and storm out of the meeting, and from the looks of it, so was Rhodey. They had spent an hour in the conference room already, arguing about every little thing. If they don’t pass the psychological assessment then they were to continue therapy until they did pass it in order to be on the team, just like everyone else. Their probationary period didn’t start until they did so. Of course they didn’t like that, and didn’t stop arguing against it until Natasha let them know she didn’t pass hers and was currently doing sessions herself until she passed. Then they argued about their living arrangements in the east wing when everyone else was in the west wing and Stark had his own suite.

“Dr. Stark owns the building so his suite was the only area that wasn’t leased out to the Avengers. And no one has access to it unless given by Dr. Stark himself, and there is nothing anyone can do about it. As for the west wing, that is only for permanent members, and even so is currently at capacity,” Rhodey said. With Rhodey, Natasha, Visions, and Banner all residing in the west wing, including some on call members that weren’t always living in the compound. Then the topic of extra training specific to each member was brought up and was their current argument. Specifically because Tony had a part in deciding what each member would do for training.

“Why the hell does Stark get a say in our training,” Scott brought up, speaking up for the first time since they’ve arrived. Tony almost rolled his eyes, Scott didn’t even know him and he already had some sort of preconceived opinion about him.

“Because he is co-leader of the Avengers,” Rhodey said in a tone which implied that it was obvious.

“I’m really comfortable having him decide,” Wanda brought up. Everyone, sans Barnes, agreed. Which seemed to be the last straw for Rhodey.

“Let’s make one thing clear, I outrank everyone in this room besides Dr. Stark, and in the field I even outrank him. So here is my first official order to you, unless you have a legitimate concern or complaint about what it being drawn up then stay quiet,” Colonel Rhodes said, “Dr. Stark is co-leader of the Avengers and you don’t disregard his orders. If you have any official, legitimate, complaints about the leadership of this organization then you can take it up to the UN committee members overseeing the organization. Disregarding orders will result in disciplinary action. Is that understood?”

“Look Rhodey, I know he’s your friend,” Rogers started to say, but wasn’t allowed to finish.

“This isn’t about friends. This isn’t a classroom where you complain to your professor about your group members, if it was I wouldn’t have to work with any of you. This is an official international organization where things are done formally and with a chain of command. You didn’t complain about teammates and commanding officers in the military and you didn’t do it with Shield so what makes you think you can do it here? You knew he what his role was when you signed the pardons, when you agreed to all conditions, did you think he wasn’t going give orders or have a say in what goes on here?” Everyone remained silent, which was the smart thing to do. Colonel Rhodes wasn’t someone to be trifled with. However, curiosity does kill the cat.

“What do you mean in the field you outrank him?” Scott asked.

“Dr. Stark mainly deals as the UN liaison and works with the governments of the countries we go into. He also is in charge of the legalities. I am focused on field work and strategy as I have military training. Originally there was only going to be one main leader but due circumstances that remain confidential, it turned into a two person position. However, if you get an order from Dr. Stark in the field, especially when it’s something urgent, you follow the chain of command, and follow the order,” Rhodey explained, less harshly.

“Rhodey, I know there a updated system, but I’m used being a part of strategizing and giving orders,” Rogers explained, and surprisingly, Barnes subtly shook his head.

“Colonel Rhodes,” Rhodey said instead of acknowledging Rogers’ comment, “This is a formal setting, a formal meeting. So it’s Dr. Stark, Dr. Banner, Agent Romanoff, Vision as he has expressed that is his preferred titled name, Sergeant Wilson, Sergeant Barnes, Mr. Lang, Agent Barton, Ms. Maximoff, and Private Rogers,” Colonel Rhodes explained as he pointed to each individual as he said their name, “if someone would prefer to be called anything else during formal setting then say it now.”

“It’s Captain Rogers,” Private Rogers said.

“It’s not,” Rhodes said. Tony had also been a surprised when he was first told. During their amendments of the accords, and setting up protocols for the new and improved Avengers Initiative, it was decided that if a member of the Avengers had a previous ranking in the military, regardless of which country, the training and rank would be acknowledged. However it would be done on a probationary period, and they would have to complete training in regards to the rank within the Avengers. If the training was not completed or if the satisfactory assessment was not met, then the rank would no longer be acknowledged and they would enter the initiative as a base member. In regards to Rogers’ ranking, the U.S. army was in argument over his rank. Although there is record of his promotion to captain, there wasn’t any record over any training he might have done, and training then is not the same as the training requirement now. Therefore the UN committee decided not to acknowledge the ranking regardless of what the U.S. military might decide. Steve Rogers had the opportunity to get the rank as captain as soon as he completed the training, which he would be allowed to do so since he has acted as captain and has experience with it and is a good strategist. Rogers had not been happy with this statement, but was calmed when finding that both Wilson and Barnes would need to do training as well if they would like to keep their ranking as sergeants within the initiative. Since both Natasha and Clint were high level agents in Shield then they were offered to do special training to receive an official rank within the initiative as well. If a member doesn’t want to continue with a ranking within the initiative then they would be allowed a different role with the corresponding training.

“So Tony is Dr. Stark now,” Rogers challenged.

“He does have multiple PhDs, if you call me Dr. Banner in official meeting such as these why wouldn’t you call him Dr. Stark?” Bruce challenged back. Throughout the day’s events he had found his former teammates attitudes quite surprising and somewhat childish. Rogers had looked surprised with what Bruce has said but remained silent. After that the meeting continued more smoothly and will less interruptions. They were told that the individual training that Rhodes and Tony had decided on for them would be kept confidential and would be up to each person if they decided to share. Vision had voiced that he had training as well when Rogers had once again tried to argue that it might not be needed, which mollified him further. The meeting seemed to have no end when Friday interrupted.

“Boss, you should check the time,” Friday said, knowing that her usual reminder of “it’s drug time.” for Tony to take his medication might not be welcome in front of certain ears. Tony got up to leave he asked Rhodes if he wanted him to return, but Rhodey said it was fine.

“Sorry Tones, it wasn’t supposed to last this long,” Rhodey apologized to him quietly so only he and Tony could hear. Tony waived it off, said a polite goodbye, and left. Never had he been so grateful to have to take his medication than at that time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have mixed feelings about this chapter. I really like it but at the same time I don't.


	21. Chapter 21

Peter was making his way out of the school when he heard the piano playing from the orchestra room. He couldn’t help but peak in and see who was playing and was surprised to see Carter. He knew that Carter was a fantastic piano player, but he didn’t get to hear him play all that often. Hoping that he wasn’t invading his privacy, Peter sat down at the edge of the room and continued to hear him play. He liked seeing his boyfriend so immersed in the music as his body moved with it. It was a slow contemporary piece that Peter couldn’t possibly name. His sixth sense went off slightly, alarmed he sat up and looked around. He couldn’t see or hear anything that would set it off. It wasn’t the first time he had felt it without there being any danger. After the subtle warning faded without anything occurring, he relaxed once again and didn’t think twice about it. Carter played for a few more minutes until the song was over and he turned to look at the clock. Peter was smiling when Carter finally noticed him..

“How long have you been there?” Carter asked self-consciously.

“Just for a few minutes. Is that okay?” Peter asked still smiling, his crappy mood forgotten, “You play beautifully. I wish I could hear you play more often.” He smile only grew when he saw how flustered Carter got when he look down after being complemented. Peter walked over and sat next to him on the piano seat. He gives him a sweet kiss.

“will you play something else?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be at practice?” Carter asked him instead. Peter scrunched up his nose and placed his head on Carter’s shoulder. He didn’t say anything at first, he hadn’t been super focused on academic decathlon after overhearing Natasha’s phone conversation at the compound. He didn’t know how to broach the subject with his Aunt May and he didn’t even know if she would know anything. He also didn’t want her ask questions about where his questions were coming from. He debated asking Mr. Stark, but again he didn’t quite want anyone knowing about this yet. Peter was definitely not going to ask Natasha either, that would come with too many problems for it to be worth it. But he that isn’t what he told Carter, instead he told him that he wasn’t feeling like himself.

“Yeah, you have seemed off the past couple of days.” Carter asked.

“I know, I’m sorry” he answered. MJ and Ned had both brought it up in the last few days, asking him if he was fine. If he needed anything. Asking if something happened during one of his patrols or during his internship that had made him upset. He appreciated their concerns, and he was lucky to have such great best friends, but sometimes he just wanted to be frustrated without people asking him questions. Maybe that made him a bad friend, maybe it made him selfish. But that is what he had felt when the insisted on him telling them what was wrong.

“You don’t have to apologize, you’ve been having a tough time lately. Is there a reason why?” Carter asked him with genuine concern. The questions irritated Peter, but he realized that it wasn’t Carter’s fault he was frustrated, or that MJ and Ned had been constantly asking the same question. Instead he told Carter as much of the truth he could. Peter told the boy that he just had some questions about his parents and that the one person who knew them best was Ben, and he couldn’t ask him either. He explained that he wanted to ask May, but he didn’t want to make her sad in bringing it up. Carter gave him a sad smile in response and told him he wished he could do something to help him. Peter just asked for him to keep playing the piano. Carter happily obliged as he played with Peter laying his head on his shoulder.

* * * *

“Come on Santi please?” Peter tried again.

“No, we’ve been over this. No more tattoos,” Santi said as if he was talking to a toddler, hoping that Peter will finally understand.

“We haven’t even done anything. I feel weird without them. I’ll avoid anyone seeing them,” Peter tried again, “I convinced you last time and nothing happened.”

“You’re going to avoid Carter seeing them?” Santi said dubiously, “Yeah I don’t think so.”

They have had the same discussion a handful of times since Peter first started dating Carter, and all the other times Peter had found a way to convince Santi to let him get some art done. It was the longest he had gone without getting a tattoo since May had first made him stop, and his skin was itching to get one done. Peter had tried to get it out of his mind, but he really needed one done. Some people say that once you get a tattoo you either aren’t super big on them or you constantly get them, Peter was the latter. Frankly, Santi was getting tired of having this conversation with the boy, especially since Peter knew the reasoning behind the decision to stop getting them done. Peter knew that Santi had a good reason for it and agreed with him for the most part, but he missed getting work done. He missed the feeling the light buzzing of the tattoo gun machine running. He missed the easy conversation that he had with Santi. And equally missed the comfortable silence that fell when Santi got into his work and Peter could get lost within his mind. Peter was especially missing it now that he found out more about his parents when listening to Romanoff’s phone conversation.

He had tried to find anything online that he about his parents, he knew they did a lot of research. But when he only found the same information he did when he had looked into them when he was younger. Some biochemistry and genetic research that his mom and dad did respectively. The same research publication he had seen before. Though if what Romanoff’s suspicion rang true, the it made sense why there were so few publications that he had once expected when hearing from Aunt May and Uncle Ben that his parents were well known scientists. But other than that he hadn’t found much else. That alone frustrated him beyond all else. His head wouldn’t quiet down, constantly going back and forth trying to think of ways to get more information on his parents. His brain went from one idea to another like a ball in a pinball machine. It didn’t help that his sixth sense has been going haywire at random time without there being any actual danger. So yes, he just wanted the quiet that came with getting a tattoo.

“Santi you don’t understand, I don’t care if he sees I just need you to do one for me,” Peter tried once more at convincing the man.

“That’s why I’m worried! Keeping your identity secret is important to you and the last thing you need is people asking questions about your healing.”

“Fine!

* * * *

Peter was not having a good week, hell it hasn’t been having the best of time for two weeks. He still hasn’t been able to find anything on his parents. At one point he debated whether or not to see if Mr. Stark had any information on his parents. Peter was sure that he had a thorough background check on him. But he didn’t want to get fired from his internship and he didn’t want to disappoint Mr. Stark so in the end he wasn’t desperate enough to do it. His friends had noticed his increasingly sour mood, and Carter had as well. They all tried to lift his mood, but even when they had the chance it didn’t last long. It wasn’t like he was obsessing over finding more information about his parents, he had tried to leave it alone but he couldn’t. His ‘Peter Tingle’, as Aunt May liked to call it, has only been getting worse. It got to the point where Peter craved silence.

Instead he got loud hallways and loud thoughts and it was Friday afternoon and it was the worse day to date. He knew since that morning that it was going to be a torturous day when he was eating breakfast and everything tasted wrong. Out of all of his senses, his sense of taste was the one that remained mostly the same. It was only heightened when he had the worst case sensory overload, and he could tell that it would be one of those days. He had tried to eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but the peanuts butter was too salty and grainy and the jelly too sweet and slimy. When he had tried to drink milk to wash it off, it just tasted like gross water. Now, at lunch, he didn’t even try to eat anything and stuck to drinking water. The lights were to bright, giving him a headache. He would hear every voice in the cafeteria and the cars outside of the building. He had never wished more for boys his age to have left the axe body spray in middle school. Peter was uncomfortable in his own skin and hated the feeling of his clothes. He was getting to the point where he was ready to skip the rest of the school day and go home.

He felt sorry for Carter, he didn’t know what was going on and had tried to greet Peter as normal but Peter had flinched away. He had heard Ned whisper something to Carter and hoped Ned came up with a believable explanation. Carter had left to sit with his friends, He felt guilty that he had been glad for it. Ned and MJ of course tried to do what they could to help. They whispered around him, didn’t touch him, and they never wore any sort of fragrance around him anyways which always helped. Both of them realized that this was the worst sensory overload that Peter has ever had and MJ gave Peter until the end of lunch to leave school before she stole his phone and had Karen call Stark to come help. Ned was taking the less aggressive approach and tried to convince Peter to call Mr. Stark himself, and seemed to make some leeway.

“Dude just call Mr. Stark, you look like you’re about to jump and leave anyways. He’s a genius, I’m sure he has some super cool inventions to help with it,” Ned stage whispered to his friend.

“I don’t want to bother Mr. Stark, he’s really busy,” Peter explained, but they could tell that his determination to make it through the day was eroding away.

“Either you call him, or I steal your phone and call him for you,” MJ said tired of seeing her friend in pain.

“And I’ll let her,” Ned added. All Peter gave as a response was a small nod. His friends quickly rushed him to an empty classroom. Peter handed his phone to MJ before curling himself as small as he could and squeezing his eyes tight shut. He didn’t realize how long he had been sitting there until he felt a pair of hands on his shoulders and smelled very expensive cologne that he knew only one person wore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to write it to show things progressively getting worse for Peter, which I hope I achieved. There might have been more mistakes and typos in this chapter, I didn't really read it over as thoroughly. It's a slightly shorter chapter, but will make up for it in the next chapters.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, this is my very first work. Constructive criticism and comments are welcome.


End file.
